Influences have been my early life, and jobs that I have undertaken.  I've done a lot of audio typing over the years and the tapes were of all kinds of work, from police procedural to insurance and legal work.  I've got an overactive imagination so I've only got to hear a story and I can visualise it as if I'm there.  It's not always a good thing in life - if someone's late they've had a car crash - but for writing stories it's a real advantage. My early life has also influenced me because I saw and experienced a lot of poverty in post-war London and in working-class housing estates.  I'm always trying to fight for the underdog in my stories, the top dog very rarely comes out well.  One of my favourite authors was Charles Dickens, and he had a hard upbringing, too.

Was a mature student, passed a Degree when I was 47.