In London in the UK

I can't remember a time when I DIDN'T write, but I wrote my first plays when I was at Drama School.After leaving, I was an actor for a while but soon turned to writing for television. I've written hundreds of scripts over the years, like it says on my website 'everything from Z Cars to Midsomer Murders'. My work is constantly shown, all over the world - but there's nothing like seeing an episode of Poirot dubbed into Japanese with sub-titles running down the side of the screen

The book I'm writing at the moment is the fifth in 'The Nathan Hawk Murder Mysteries'. It's called Jericho Road (though it's had several titles!) and it's about slavery in the English countryside, and a pretty gruesome murder tied up with it. My reluctant hero is a forcibly retired cop. In England we call it 'being required to retire'. Hawk, pretends that he doesn't want to get involved in solving crime but it's a lie - he loves it, can't wait for the next dead body so that he can show off to the competition.

The idea for Jericho Road came to me when I read there are 80,000 people in Britain in virtual slavery. Most are there willingly, some against their will. But there's more to this particular story than meets the eye...

I've written all my life and made a good living at it. Why would I stop now? Television is a tough game these days and I was being asked to repeat myself, so I turned to writing books. I'll tell you this: I would rather drop dead over a hot computer screen, with just two sentences of a book to go, than play golf, mow the lawn or have a hobby. Couldn't bear it.

I'm still waiting to find out! But I reckon Smashwords have got this side of the business sorted. I'm expecting great things.

Stretching my imagination, sending it off in directions I could never tackle in real life. I would rather fall asleep, twisting and turning the plot of my next day's work, than thinking about anything else. And the words. There's such a kick to be had out of saying what you want in the cleverest way you can. Whether it's a two word phrase or a whole paragraph.

A great deal. One billion people have watched Midsomer Murders (which I helped to establish) One billion! Now, all I'm asking is that just one percent of those guys buy a Nathan Hawk Mystery through Smashwords, and maybe get their mother or aunty a copy as well. Or their dad and uncle a come to that. Is it so much to ask?

After Jericho Road, the fifth in the Natan Hawk series, there will be a sixth. It's right there, waiting to be set down, but if I let it distract me now, then number five will suffer. So it must wait. But believe me it's there...

Ian MacEwan, Stephen King, Ken Bruen, Gillian Flynn. Strange mixture, huh?

The simple fact that life is too short to stay in bed! Up, up, up to the shed I work in and write, write, write. I do take days off occasionally, though. I have to. Big family.

Thinking about what I'm going to write next, of course. Actually, that isn't strictly true. If you're a real writer you can't help but glean ideas from just living day to day. One of my Nathan Hawk books had a most unlikely beginning, for example. An old copper was telling me about a weird and wonderful real life crime and frankly none of it was of any interest. An then he mentioned, just mentioned in passing, that one of his women police officers had fallen in love with the trial's main witness and that sparked 'Evil Turn'.