UnBiased Book Reviews: Author Interview

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What’s your favourite place in the entire world?
To be honest, being out on the ocean alone, on a sailboat, when the sky is blue, the sun’s warm, there’s a nice breeze and the water’s so clear I can see deep into it’s depths. Anywhere peaceful away from man-made stress with a big sky and surrounded by nature, even if it’s on a boat in the middle of the biggest storm at sea, is heaven to me.
What is your favourite colour?
If I have to choose one, I would have to say, blue. It is the colour of the sky on a bright sunny day and the ocean surrounding coral reefs. It is warm, inviting and uplifting and always gives me a wonderful sense of well-being. Without blue, sunsets would be insipid, the ocean a dark menace and my life would be grey.
What’s your favourite food?
That’s tough, I love all sorts of foods – rich curries, simple pastas, fresh fish and seafood. But I guess one of my favourite rituals is ending each night sitting quietly with my wife and enjoying a glass of good port, a sliver of Stilton cheese and letting the activities and thoughts of the day fall away. I’ve also got a sweet tooth, so my latest vice is chocolate covered honeycomb – hmmm – delish!!!
What inspired you to write your first book?
My first book Contact started out as a way of coming to terms with the world after returning from combat physically and emotionally wounded. I was lost, angry, sad, and felt I didn’t fit in with the so-called “normal world” – what’s “normal” after being at war, anyway? I wanted people to understand what it was like going out expecting to be shot or blown apart every day. How we came to terms with the stress, loss of life, fear and boredom. Wanted families of veterans to understand why their loved ones might be distant, different. But my primary motivation was to ensure that the lives lost and destroyed, both of soldiers and civilians, counted for something – and that politicians might stop and think long and hard before choosing to go to war.
It’s still one of my best selling books all these years later – which is, ironically, rather sad, as I had hoped it would have been redundant by now. But it seems we humans never learn. Now I prefer writing fiction and taking my readers to different worlds through my stories. Eight books so far, with many more to come.
Do you intend to make writing a career?
Writing IS my career and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I think it’s a career because it’s more than just something I do to earn money or pass the time – it’s a lifelong passion and activity that I nurture and grow and do everything I can to excel at and learn more about. I hope each time I write, that passion and growth shows and inspires my readers to read more, and new writers to keep on writing and be even better.