When I was five my family moved from Manchester in the North West of England to Queensland in Australia. After a year we came back to the Manchester area, where I grew up. My early education was unusual. In Australia my school consisted of an old Army hut which was empty except for a piano with a music stool and a large flag. The one and only teacher was a young woman and the lessons always involved her playing the piano. As a result of going to Australia I missed the first year of normal education and developed something of an outsider looking in view of life.

For me story telling came first and writing followed. My early efforts at telling stories in writing were pathetic. I entered a few writing competitions and sent some short stories off to magazines without success. I decided to put writing on the back burner and get on with other things. Three years ago I signed up for a creative writing course. After that I joined a writing group which met weekly. Most of the members of the group are published authors. The weekly criticism of my work by very good writers has been invaluable but like all writers I'm still learning.

I am fascinated by outsiders, those people who live outside the mainstream of society because they have been rejected by society or society has rejected them. What happens when these outsiders collide with the mainstream?

Self publishing platforms, especially Smashwords have torn down the barriers that existed between writers and readers. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the ability to publish has become a human right. I take joy in that right.

As I write, I am trying to convey what my characters are thinking, feeling doing. But it is hard to know if what I am writing makes sense to someone else. It is really great to get feedback on what readers make of my writing.

I would love it if people like my novel and wants to give me feedback or even make suggestions about how the story could develop.

My first novel was about a character called Laski. I'm thinking of continuing his story.

I read all the usual classics when I was young and I'm still a fan of Doyle and Poe. I'm a bit of a Stephen King fan and his book on writing was very useful.

Writing has become my life and I look forward to not only the actual writing but thinking about what happens next.

Walking with friends and visiting secondhand bookshops.

I love to browse through the new releases or books or authors that are starting to build up a following.

Yes, it was about our house flooding and a whale coming to live with us.

An art student designed the cover for my first novel. I'm very impressed with the new high definition covers and I think they will tend to attract more readers. So I may try one of the cover design specialists for my next novel.

I read on my tablet, phone and laptop. I like the tablet best.

I squat anywhere I can and I'm very untidy. Right now I'm writing on a big old oak dining table.