Kelly Allen Writer – All About Me and My Tribe

Hello!!

My name is Kelly and I am originally from Birmingham. As a child I spent most of my time at the library with my head in a book or watching movies. After I completed my A-Levels I went on to study to be a primary school teacher. It was in one particular English class that I realised I wanted to be a writer. It feels like only yesterday that we sat in the room and read from Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, but for me, this changed everything. The tutor turned to us and, with a very serious expression, said, ‘If you ever want to write, do it.’ She went on to say that life shouldn’t hold you back, a degree in a certain subject shouldn’t hold you back, you should do what you feel in your heart.

In that moment it was all I wanted to do. So, a month or so later and I had left my teaching course and I was gearing up to start my BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing. I had decided to finally move away from the city, so I chose the seaside town of Aberystwyth. This was something I have never regretted. I had the best three years living up in the student village and later moving into the big wide world living a two minute walk from the seafront (you could see the sea from my bedroom’s bay window, if you stretched your neck a little!).

 

When it came to an end I was heartbroken. It was home to me. The day I left the thunder and lightning was so vicious I thought all transport out of there would be cancelled, but it wasn’t. From Aberystwyth I crashed into Cardiff with a bump. No money, no job, just a degree! I remember wandering around Ikea in Cardiff Bay when I received the news of my 2:1 degree  and thinking I was the only person in the whole world that felt as elated as I did in that moment…Eventually I found a lovely job in a lingerie store in Cardiff and for a long time I couldn’t see life getting much sweeter. We’d work, shop and party and life felt good.

 

After a few years I met my wonderful husband, Warren…

 

 

We dated a little but I (being well known for spontaneity) went back to Aberystwyth to study my MA in Creative Writing. This course lasted a year, and once it was complete I was back in Birmingham sleeping on my parent’s sofa. It’s a tough life.

 

 

After this I returned to Cardiff and during the summer of 2008 Warren and I decided to marry… We got married in the December and the following day I found out I was pregnant with George. The day after I received the news that I had passed my MA. An amazing year indeed.

 

 

I had planned to find work with my Masters, but life has a funny way of spiralling out of control. In 2010 we found out we were going to have another baby, and because my father was suffering from lung cancer, we made the decision to move to Birmingham to be close to my parents. Molly then joined us and life was sweet, although I still hadn’t written anything in a very long time.

 

In 2011 I thought I wanted to be a midwife. I love the subject (even now) and so I applied for the course. I studied for six months before life changed again and I had a year out from studies. When I was due to return, my father was gravely ill and before I started my first placement he had passed away.

 

My father was a wonderful man and before his death he had told me his regrets, one of the biggest was not seeing his family enough, working late and working too hard and never seeing his children. He told me not to do the same. He inspired me to spend time with my children, despite the fact that it means less money in the pot. He inspired me to see beyond materialistic things, to dream big and fabulously, and that when you die, you can’t take it with you (I can actually imagine him saying that last bit!). He made me realise what was important in my life; my family and words.

I sat in the pub with Warren a few days after his death (it was Valentine’s Day and we were trying to be ‘normal’) and I cried over my glass of wine. I said I wish I could write again, that I miss the kids when they are in nursery 7am-6pm every day, that I wish we could leave Birmingham and live somewhere calm and quiet and steady. Warren too said
he wished for more for both of us… let me reiterate, he didn’t mean money. We were talking about joy, love, passion and dying without regret.

Two months later and we had moved to South Wales with the lovely Nanny Kim and later Ziggy our loveable labradoodle, joined the family.

 

Over the years Warren’s job changed and he joined a new band, Blackwaters Rockband. At the same time I started this blog as a way to reach out to other people with words and I also spent three years as the resident blogger for St David’s Shopping Centre and writing book reviews for Novelicious. However, in 2016 my own blog became my main focus, plus I needed to divide my spare time between the blog and my book.

 

In 2017 we moved from our beloved Llantrisant to Cardiff, so we could be closer to different home educating activities, but mostly because Warren began a new adventure in the form of a Sound Engineering Degree!

Then, in 2019 Warren came out as transgender and became my beautiful wife, Zoey…

 

We’re an energetic family (most of the time!) and we enjoy baking, crafting, going on adventures with the dog, theatre trips, watching movies, cuddling and creating strange and wonderful things (like slime!). We also run The Rebel Tribe, a home education blog with lots of interesting adventures, reviews and resources.

But if I am not busy doing all these amazing things, then I can be found dipping into Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest , LinkedIn or Instagram where I support writers, share my reviews (and views on life!) and generally have a very nice time with fellow creatives!

So, that’s me and my crazy rebel family. I’m complicated, spontaneous, totally in love with my family and so, so utterly full of words!