I was born in the South-West of England. From a working-class home in the nineteen-forties to the life we have today, that's a long journey. Some of my characters are still trying to make sense of it all.

Most important are Bertie and Harry, the ten-inch Basset Hounds on the shelf, either side of my monitor screen. There's a supply of paper for making notes, which Bertie and Harry keep safe by sitting on them. The jumble of pages includes a print of my calendar to tell me what's happening, and the lyrics and chords for a few songs. There's a keyboard and mouse too.

I soon learned that I would never get rich as an author. Agents were not interested. But I still felt that some ideas are worth writing about. Such as two characters who pioneer a hydrogen-burning car engine, or the fight against a pernicious new mobile technology.
E-publishing gives us this great opportunity.

It must be the characters who appear and take on a life. I sometimes wonder how they are getting along, after the story is finished.

There are favourites like: Mickey Spillane, Giovanni Guareschi, Robert Harris.
In my youth I was amazed by the "Best SF" collections edited by Edmund Crispin. Later, I read a lot of science fiction, including Isaac Asimov and Robert Sheckley. Now I am discovering more recent authors like Derek B Miller, Dennis Lehane, Robert Radcliffe.

There's always a writing project, and homework for the next writing group meeting, and I have to practise the guitar. No time to waste.

College days got me hooked on playing guitar. As John Denver said, what a friend to have.
I try to be a handyman and fix things around the home, although technology is making it more difficult all the time.
And with children and grandchildren, there is usually someone on the phone or email.

When someone recommends a book, or if I remember a famous title that everyone except me seems to have read. Or sometimes I just browse and see what I find.

It starts with an idea and a character or two. The story runs for a while. Then the problems and what-ifs come along. This is when I am so glad that we have word-processing tools, to make new versions and move everything around.

Impossible to choose, but let's say:
Campbell's Kingdom (Hammond Innes) because it brings adventure to someone with no hope.
The Long Wait because it introduced me to the lurid world of Mickey Spillane.
Four Quartets (T S Eliot) because I find myself reading it at times of change. One day I might understand it.
How to Drive a Car (by the editor of "The Motor"). Undated, but the advert for a Morris Cowley two-seater puts it around 1925, so this is ancient wisdom.
Scotland Laughing (W B Burnett) I am not Scottish, but I can appreciate the bittersweet humour.

My stories don't always seem to fit into any obvious genre, so marketing doesn't come easily. But I'm still learning.