The Rise and Rise of Wayne Crowsley

Wayne Crowsley is these days a familiar face through his frequent appearances on television, but it was clear from his school days that the freelance writer and internet auction expert had a bright future. He remembers his school days fondly, especially when helping the quiz team to be the first in seventy-four years to win the national championships three years in succession. A popular choice as head boy, he revived the fortunes of the flagging school newspaper when he took over as editor and introduced his crafty crossword competition, although when it was discovered that the entry fees he had collected were breaking strict gambling laws he resolved this by a swift donation to charity.

It may be a surprise to many that Wayne Crowsley did not undertake any further education and went straight into work from school, joining a small but busy jobcentre as their chief cashier. He states these years were the most stressful of his life and found a way out by turning his love and knowledge of antiques into profit by buying what many considered rubbish at local auctions and selling them on a well known internet auction site. It was at this time that his writing career also took off – Wayne Crowsley had already spent a decade in the voluntary role of press officer for his local badminton league receiving wide praise for the promotion of what many considered a minority sport through his extensive and colourful reports in the regional newspapers. Wondering if there was any chance of a professional writing career, a search through the internet provided many freelance opportunities which he snapped up, with one leading to a successful stint as a freelance rugby correspondent for a regional newspaper and another as a columnist for a specialist antiques magazine. It was here that the famous incident occurred when he met his wife Caroline for the first time after bumping into her in the queue when buying the first edition of the magazine that he had submitted his column to. Over the next seven years the couple had three children – Thomas, Claire and Zoe – with Caroline able to continue her own successful career as an auctioneer due to the fact that her husband worked from home so often and was able to juggle childcare issues with his own work.

After the birth of his third child, Wayne Crowsley penned his first novel concerning the comic antics of auctioneer Penny Turnip. This was based on a collection of short stories he had sold freelance over the internet to three different magazines around the world. A second unique novel soon followed. Next came the launch of his own website for aspiring freelance writers both of fiction and non-fiction which was celebrated for his unique notebook ratings system. The break into television came in the role of host of the short lived online auction based ‘Penny for your Thoughts’ gameshow which despite being praised for its unique play-along format was cancelled after just one series. However the television work did not dry up with many shows calling for Mr Crowsley’s extensive knowledge on subjects as varied as antiques, writing and how to make a living freelancing on the internet. For the last two years, he has served as head judge on ‘So You Think You Can Write – Sink or Swim’ the hit reality format where aspiring novelists are stranded on a desert island with just pen and paper until they have finished their first book.