I'm super excited to write this post. As you probably know, special interests are a key part in most autistic people's lives. My special interest for nearly 20 years (!) has been Basil Brush. It all started one cold January day back in 2003 when I watched his new show for the first time on CBBC. I don't know what happened, but I couldn't stop thinking about this show/character.
I continued to watch the show until it ended in 2007. I was fifteen by then and way too old to watch CBBC but part of me didn't care. Part of me though was horribly ashamed that I was obsessed with a kid's TV show when I should have been more 'grown up.'
The show eventually ended, but of course, my obsession didn't. Luckily Basil still popped up on TV now and again on various shows, and of course I tried to watch all of them!
Then in 2014 Basil joined Twitter, and I think I was one of his first followers. He announced he was doing a tour. I immediately bought tickets. I tweeted him that I'd bought my tickets and he asked if I'd like to meet him before the show! Of course I said yes, I'd only been waiting around half my life for this moment.
I've since lost count of the times I've met Basil and hope to meet him again. He even inspired my YA series The Fan, which follows Amber as she meets and eventually gets together with her idol, Jonas James. I am currently working on a spin off as I can't leave these characters alone!
Finally, I'd like to end this post by saying Basil means so much to me, and always will. I can't imagine my life without him. It seems silly, but it's true.
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