I write the sort of books I would like to read, and the most important thing for me is to have a good convincing story with strong characters that you can really believe in. So the background has to be the real world - no vampires, fantasy or paranormal for me - sorry! I've spent a fair time in British law courts, which led to three legal thrillers about a tough lady barrister called Sarah Newby. Readers have been kind enough to compare these books to those of John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and Scott Turow, which is very flattering - I admire their writing very much. I'm also very interested in British history and I've published four historical novels. I try to make these fast-moving, thriller type stories as well, a bit like the historical novels of Ken Follett, another writer I admire. I've written two historical novels about the conflict between Britain and Ireland in the early twentieth century - the background to the IRA terrorism of modern times. Another historical novel is about the Elizabethan slave trade, and a fourth is about the Monmouth rebellion of 1685. The stories in all these books aren't about kings and queens, but about ordinary people caught up in dramatic historical events. I've also published about 25 short graded readers for foreign learners of English, two of which have won awards. This is a great apprenticeship for how to write good exciting stories in clear, simple English.  

Nobody's Slave, a historical novel about the Elizabethan slave trade, won FIRST PLACE in the Kindle Book awards 2014, young adult category.
My legal thriller, A Fatal Verdict, was awarded a B.R.A.G Medallion in 2012.
Bold Counsel, the third legal thriller in the series 'The Trials of Sarah Newby', was awarded the 'Awesome Indies Seal of Approval.'
Two of my graded readers - Titanic and The Everest Story - each won their class in the Language Learner Literacy Awards from the Extensive Reading Foundation in 2010 and 2011 respectively.