About the Author:
Adrian Stride was born, which was the usual method of arrival on his local planet, to his mother and father, again not that unusual, sometime during the mid 60s. Which was very popular for those kind of events back then. Though he suspects drugs might have been involved.
Unlike most authors, who study English, became journalists, get disenchanted, turn to alcohol and then finally write a book, Adrian did it his way.
Writing with Dyslexia (No that’s not my wife’s name)
First, I should point out that I am dyslexic. (There’s a small clue in the sub-title) Not the, I can’t read or write kind, but the kind where you read a line from right to left or add words that aren’t there. (I suspect that might be a hindrance if anybody is foolish enough to invite me to read from my book.) This evolutionary advantage encouraged me to work very hard on my writing skills.
My only positive experience of English at school, was when we were permitted to write an original story. The English teacher said it was entertaining, clever and funny. I was promptly reported to the headmaster and caned for plagiarism. I didn't mind the caning, that was a part of growing up at the time, but the accusation made a sizeable dent.
The Journey to The Trivial Matter of The Universe
To write what I hope to be the first of The Trivial Matter series, I first had to write two other novels and have them publicly critiqued. My third attempt, a novel called Alfred, explored the creation of a very specific character and his time as a police officer. While the novel still needs work, the best thing that came out of that was a fully formed Alfred himself.
So, instead of working on it, I started with my fourth novel, The Trivial Matter of The Universe. (Sometimes you have to put a project down if you are dyslexic and pick it up later. Or not at all) I wanted a setting where I could fully unleash Alfred, unfairly on the world-without warning. Then I realised I was thinking too small, too human, he needed something much bigger, he would have wanted it that way, the universe seemed about the right size, I’m sure he would have agreed.
The process, proof-reading.
I rewrote The Trivial Matters six times. If you are dyslexic you would understand. It wasn’t until the sixth pass I realised that one and two were in the wrong order. (Still not sure how I did that.) During the multiple-multiple read throughs that followed I discovered that I had spelt Phillipa in three different ways. I had to work, line by line, word by word, with a little help from my trusty friend, Jean Leon. A wonderful Petite-Chablis at around 12.5% proof.
I strongly suggest not using me as an example of how to handle dyslexia there must be a better way. I write because I like history and the absurdity of our species and wine.
“Be good and if you can’t be good don’t get caught” -Alfred c 50 B.C
Chinese translation
关于作者：
阿德里安·斯特赖德（Adrian Stride）出生了——这在他所在的星球上，是一种相当常见的到来方式——父母双全，这也没什么特别，大概是在六十年代中期出生的。那时候，这类事情非常流行。不过他怀疑其中可能掺杂了药物因素。
和大多数作者不同——他们通常学习英语专业、成为记者、对人生幻灭、开始酗酒，最后才写出一本书——阿德里安选择了自己的方式。
**与阅读障碍一起写作（不，那不是我老婆的名字）**
首先，我得说明一下，我有阅读障碍。（副标题已经有一点暗示了。）不是那种完全无法阅读或写作的类型，而是会把一句话从右往左读，或者凭空加进不存在单词的那种。（如果真有人傻到邀请我朗读自己的书，我怀疑这会成为一个障碍。）这种“进化优势”促使我非常努力地磨练自己的写作能力。
我在学校里唯一一次与英语课有关的正面经历，是老师允许我们写一篇原创故事。英语老师说那篇文章既有趣、聪明又幽默。结果我立刻被举报到校长那里，并因为“抄袭”挨了藤条。
我倒不介意挨打——那在当时算是成长过程的一部分——但那个指控对我打击很大。
**通往《宇宙琐事》的旅程**
为了写出我希望成为《琐事系列》第一部的作品，我先写了另外两本小说，并让它们接受公开评论。我的第三次尝试是一部叫《阿尔弗雷德》的小说，讲述了一个非常具体的人物塑造，以及他作为警察的经历。虽然那本小说仍然需要修改，但最大的收获，是“阿尔弗雷德”这个角色已经彻底成形。
于是，我没有继续完善那本书，而是开始写第四部小说——《宇宙琐事》。（如果你有阅读障碍，有时候你不得不把一个项目放下，之后再捡起来。或者永远不再碰它。）
我想创造一个环境，让阿尔弗雷德能够毫无预警地、彻底不公平地释放自己，对整个世界下手。后来我意识到，我想得太小了，太“人类中心”了。他需要更大的舞台——他肯定会这么想——于是我觉得，宇宙的规模大概刚刚好，我相信他也会同意。
**校对过程**
《琐事》我一共重写了六遍。如果你有阅读障碍，你就会懂。
直到第六遍时，我才发现第一章和第二章的顺序居然反了。（至今我也不知道自己是怎么做到的。）而在后来的无数次通读中，我又发现“Phillipa”这个名字居然被我拼成了三种不同的写法。
于是我只能一行一行、一个词一个词地检查，在我忠实朋友——Jean Leon——的帮助下完成。这是一款非常棒的小夏布利白葡萄酒（Petite-Chablis），酒精度大约12.5%。
我强烈建议不要把我当成应对阅读障碍的榜样，肯定还有更好的办法。
我写作，是因为我喜欢历史、喜欢我们这个物种的荒诞，以及葡萄酒。
“做个好人；如果做不到，至少别被抓到。” ——阿尔弗雷德，约公元前50年