I write historical fiction, with a strong element of romance. I aim to immerse the reader in both time and place as authentically as I can manage, but not in a cosy ‘nostalgic’ way. The past could be a dark place.

 

My series ‘The Likes of Us,’ which so far consists of two novels, gives a voice to gay Londoners living in the 1920s and 1930s - they have always been there, without often being heard. Part 1 ‘Until the Real Thing Comes Along’ is about the growing relationship between Malcolm, a City businessman and Alfie, a young docker, which thrives despite the social and moral barriers. Part 2 ‘When Summer is Gone’ is all about Alfie’s difficult life from his birth until he and Malcolm meet. Both books celebrate human triumph over adversity. 

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My inspirations are as diverse as John Finch, the Granada TV scriptwriter who worked on early episodes of Coronation Street, London novelist Patrick Hamilton, and children’s author and gay novelist David Rees. Years ago, while editor of an anthology of short stories, Rees declined my submissions, but wrote - “I’m very sorry to have to reject these stories because you write well and have a rare gift for the erotic - most stories about sex are very unerotic.” He went on to suggest that I’d be better off writing novels.

I write a blog, ‘I Drink With Ghosts,’ in which I aim to take an affectionate look at the past, without too much bitterness towards the present.

After visiting London at the age of twelve, my desire to live here became the first certainty of my life. Inspired by many old films and books, I am obsessed with social history, particularly that of the capital in the first half of the 20th Century – so much so that I enjoy the research as much as I do the writing.

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The youngest son of a headteacher, I was born in Bangor and brought up in the small Welsh coastal town of Pwllheli, which I now consider to have been a privilege. I went to college in Liverpool, before enrolling for teacher training in Manchester. Having decided that teaching wasn’t for me, I returned to Wales to work at the local Butlin’s holiday camp, doing everything from chalet allocations to scrubbing dirty grill pans in a baby bath full of tepid water in the off season. I did this over three summers before joining the civil service, starting in North London benefit offices, moving to the Health & Safety Executive and ending at the Department for Transport in Westminster.

​​It had always been my intention to write a novel or two whenever I found the time, and having retired early from the British Civil Service, I’ve finally found the time.