Steve Campen: Director, playwright and producer in Hornchurch, United Kingdom.

Never judge a book by its cover! Or the biggest mistake in my career. It was 1997 and I was training a possible Producer for LBC during The Julia Somerville Show when her Producer, another Julia asked if I minded outputting the show whilst she got on with some admin work in newsroom. 'Sure' I said 'no problem, who's on the show?' she replied 'just a regular and some children's author.' So an easy ride. Regular guest was in and I went up to get the kids author. Checking her title she said the most bizarre thing to me, that she only wanted to be known by her initials? I remember turning to her and saying; 'Listen dear, nobody has heard of you, so why ever do you want to be known by just your initials, what's your proper name love?' So we settled on calling her by her proper first name, the silly cow! I had a copy of the book and so did Julia Somerville. As this author droned on about her poor life writing this rubbish book in some tea shop in Edinburgh, I took a moment to flick through the pages of her latest novel. A quick glance and I knew this was one stinky book, it was all about magic and featured some spotty boy with glasses on the front with a steam train behind him. By the time the interview was over the Runner had returned from his break and he brought her round to say goodbye to me. 'Oh' she said; 'I see you have a copy of my new book, would you like me to sign it for you?' 'No don't bother' I said 'But I will look forward to reading it later.' As she disappeared up the corridor I tossed 'Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone' into the bin! Some years later I looked on Ebay and a first edition signed by J.K. was up for £23,000 - so that will teach me to be rude to the guests won't it!

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Maya Gold - the day I met Maya Angelou I have been privileged to meet a great many Hollywood and American greats but there was one lady that shined brighter, held herself in such a dignified manner that she had a presidential air about her. Maya Angelou was a pleasure to meet. Her sad passing today has made the world a lesser place, one of my regrets is that I did not keep her interview with Sandi Toksvig where Maya read live without notes her seminal poem. "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" if you are not familiar with this poem it's worth taking a read: The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with fearful trill of the things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own. But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. Maya Angelou 1928-2014

4 ears good 2 ears bad (Apologies to George Orwell) How did #Shakespeare write all that stuff on his own? I find it really hard to come up with creative content on my own, I need help with ideas and I need guidance and more importantly another pair of ears to listen to what I am doing. It's my guess that Shakespeare had some help, I doubt it was from his country-bumpkin wife Anne Hathaway to whom he only left his second-best bed to in his will. Many of Shakespeare's fellow writers like Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson et al, all had help with the creative process. It's true that many of your good ideas come from within, often when you are doing some unrelated mundane task - something to do with the sensible front lobe of your brain busying itself with day-to-day organising, allowing the creative back lobe come up with ideas uninterrupted. So I am lucky to have people to play my stuff to who offer constructive advice and help me edit my work .. and I always listen to what they have to say … it's all part of the creative process.

Hi Steve. I'm RB, co-founder and CEO of Stage 32. As an actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work and attracting attention to their projects. That's why we created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 200,000+ members strong spanning 180+ countries making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth. This is a network for you, built by you. Like most things in life, the more you participate, the greater the rewards. We ask all new members pay it forward and invite at least 5 fellow creatives and to spread the word of Stage 32 through other social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also invite fellow creatives through the site by using the "Send Stage 32 Invites..." button on the upper right side of your profile. The more creatives, the stronger the network. The stronger the network, the more opportunities. Thanks for joining the movement and for being a part of this most talented and inspiring community. PS - Please take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @Stage32online.

Hey Steve, I'm the CTO and lead developer at Stage 32. Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about the site. I'd love to hear your comments! To get started with Stage 32 and understand all the features and resources the site has to offer, please check out the Getting Started section and our FAQ.