I have dabbled on an off for years and several half finished manuscripts can be found in my loft. It was not until 2010 that impending mid-life crisis provided the spur and my first novel was finally completed.

I began work on a thriller set in England in the 1990s. The plot centred on a plan by the agencies of the Government to unseat that very Government by what ever means possible. It was set and indeed written pre-9/11 so I am not sure it would stand up to critical scrutiny now but I know its sitting in a box in the loft so who knows one day?

My first two published books are historical thrillers, that is thrillers that are set in a specific historical time. This poses unique challenges in getting the background historical setting just right and then weaving into that background, an exciting believable but fictional story.
This is particularly daunting when as in An Agent of the King, the story is set in the Napoleonic Wars. This is one of the most studied periods of history and fans of the period and fiction set in the period, have an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of events, military history and even uniform detail. That said there is plenty of scope for new stories to be told of the time.
My second novel, The Black Knight is set in Victorian times and again required extensive research before writing could even start. However I find this process thrilling and the surprises it throws up are wonderful and some a storytellers gift. For instance who would have thought that Irish terrorists build a submarine in the 1880s to use against British ships? Unbelievable? Maybe so but it still exists It is called the Fenian Ram and can be found in the Paterson Museum New Jersey

My next project will be a sequel to The Black Knight. Few details have crystallised in my mind yet but it will of course include William Dexter as the reluctant secret agent. I will be researching the well known and secret events that shaped the world in the 1890s and from there a plot for fiction will hopefully begin to take shape.

Book marketing for an independent little known writer is extremely difficult. Marketing across the whole sphere of business relies on one thing usually, money and lots of it. The temptation is to use up most of the meagre rewards for writing searching for the elusive silver bullet marketing stunt.

My favourite writers change with time as I suspect is the case for most people. Most enduring is John Buchan, PJ Wodehouse and recently Julian Rathbone. When I was younger it was Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy but times and tastes change.

Like most people these days I write on a laptop usually with some meaningless pap on the tv in the background.

Smashwords has enabled the distribution of my three books with no outlay to me and for that I am grateful.

The greatest joy is hoping that somewhere there is someone who is enjoying taking the journey with your hero.

Like most people the need to work is still there and for now that is the great motivator but who knows, one day it may be the need to write that has to substitute.