I was born and raised in Birmingham, England, where I was educated at King Edward's Grammar School, Aston. I am married, with two grown-up daughters and a granddaughter. Always a reader, I enjoy literature across most genres, while favouring action or crime thrillers. My current favourite authors are William Boyd, Robert Ryan and Jack Higgins. Although having spent most of my working life in financial environments, words, not figures, have always been my first love. I did spend some years as a freelance journalist, when I was local correspondent for a number of national trade magazines. I have also worked in Press and Public Relations. My Penguin Books prize winning short story 'The Prisoner' was published in 1992 in the book compilation 'Shorts From the Midlands.' My crime thriller novel 'The Hit-and-Run Man,' published in 1991, may have been instrumental in stopping the U.K. cinema release of a Johnny Depp movie. The book hit the U.K. headlines in 1996, when, after reading Press previews of 'Nick of Time,' I raised concerns about notable similarities between the plotlines of the movie and the book. Although not published in America, I was able to place the book as having been presented there, including a link with an agency claiming Hollywood connections. Not surprisingly, United International Pictures denied any knowledge of the book, but, despite highly favourable reviews, the movie was pulled from its U.K. cinema release and sent straight to video. In 2008 'The Hit-and-Run Man,' was a featured novel in the Four Counties Noir Festival - "A Festival of Crime Fiction from the Dark Heart of England" - at the Light House Media Centre, Wolverhampton, England and was selected for a reading. A revised edition of the 'Hit-and-Run Man,' with additional material, was independently published as an e-book from Amazon Kindle in January 2013, but has now been taken into the portfolio of publisher Next Chapter Publications. who has made it additionally available in Paperback, Audiobook, Large Print and Pocket Book formats