: About Me

Gordon Hamilton is presently the Food and Drink Channel Manager here on Helium but his professional background is within the UK Banking Sector. Between the years of 1988 and 2007, he worked for what was initially Halifax Building Society (Savings and Loan,) became Halifax plc and ultimately Halifax Bank of Scotland plc. He started out as a cashier and general office administrator and circa 1992/3 became Cashier Supervisor. He was also at various stages involved in the selling of banking products, risk management, business banking and was a member of the integration team for Halifax plc and Bank of Scotland.

Gordon Hamilton today is - as mentioned above - the Food and Drink Channel Manager here on Helium. He is back living in his home town of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, due to a change in life circumstances, having moved firstly to Edinburgh and then to Uxbridge in Middlesex, West London.

Gordon Hamilton has been a full time, online writer since September 2007. As well as writing for Helium, he writes chiefly for Hub Pages, as well as a number of other sites on a less frequent basis. He also maintains a few personal blogs. Gordon Hamilton previously ran successful Internet Marketing businesses in both Edinburgh and London (prior to Credit Crunch) but has now put that activity to bed, at least for now.

Gordon Hamilton writes on a wide variety of subjects. The first subject he wrote about online was food and drink and this is a subject which has stayed very close to his heart - and his stomach! He has a great many articles and mini websites on food and drink and operates an extremely successful food blog, entitled, "What Should I Have for Dinner Tonight?" a link to which may be found in the right hand column of this page.

Particularly as he is a keen sea fisherman, a subject very close to Gordon Hamilton's heart at the moment is, "The Big Fish Fight." This is a campaign launched by UK celebrity chefs to tackle the process known as discard, which sees millions of tonnes of perfectly edible fish returned dead to the sea each year to comply with fishing quotas. The campaign is also aimed at encouraging people to eat more sustainable varieties of fish and seafood, in order to give the traditional favourites a fighting chance of recovering their numbers. See again the links to the right.

In his spare/leisure time - apart from writing - Gordon Hamilton very much enjoys sea angling, reading, travelling to a whole host of favourite destinations and using the Internet as a research and learning tool. He also enjoys watching football (soccer) and rugby union, both "live" and on TV.

If you are a Helium member and do require assistance or clarification with any aspect of writing for Helium or being a part of the Helium community - particularly if it relates to Food and Drink - please get in touch with Gordon via the option beneath his photograph on the right hand side of this page and he will endeavour to reply as soon as possible.

My passion is ...

these days, simply travelling, food and drink - and writing about both of them.

I know too much about ...

Rangers Football (Soccer) Club from Glasgow and the life and music of Elvis Presley.

My parents always told me ...

never to start smoking - at least I am presently down to about twenty a day...

My childhood ambition ...

I am reliably informed that my three earliest ambitions were to be an astronaut, a Church of Scotland minister (because I apparently believed that meant my working week consisted of giving a one hour sermon every Sunday morning - honestly!) or - rather ominously and to this day unexplained - a burglar!

My favorite memory ...

is leaving school.

Why I write ...

because I have all these words in my head that I simply have to get down on paper.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

I used to be a voracious reader of a whole host of different genres of writing. These days, I am unfortunately too busy to read much offline but I do love the novels of Peter Robinson and always make a point of reading his latest offering.

My first job ...

was part-time after school in the upstairs warehouse of a large supermarket, transferring pallets down to the shop floor. This did not last long and I soon embarked on a banking career of some twenty years.

My best moment ...

...is hopefully yet to come.

My inspiration ...

is forever changing. I may be inspired by the breathtaking beauty of a geographical location, the words of a song or poem, an event in my own or someone close to me's life, or even the sight or company of a beautiful woman.

Arts & Humanities > Internet Writing & Blogging How to make a living writing online

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The Internet is in many ways similar to the Hollywood movie industry. Every year, it represents the dreams of millions, convinced they are going to be the next mega rich star of the LCD screen as opposed to the silver screen. It affords the possibility of riches beyond the average person’s wildest imaginings - and it knows at best a similar success rate among those who set out on the rocky trail to wealth and stardom. Get rich quick schemes on the Internet have probably been responsible for more shattered dreams than any other concept and they are a veritable minefield for the unwary...

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Writing:

Rating:

• Marketplace Premier Writer
• 2Writing Contest Winner
• Editorial Advisory Board
• Channel Manager Food & Drink
• Marketplace Approved Writer
• Channel Manager Cooking
• Helium Charter Member