Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Greetings from the UK! I live in a rural county called Shropshire (about 200 miles from London), having escaped from Greater London in the late 1990s.
I began writing articles in my late teens, and have since had over 850 articles published in magazines all over the world. In 2003, I was fortunate to have my first book published by Hodder & Stoughton. It was called One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, and spent three weeks on the UK’s Top Ten Non-Fiction paperback bestseller lists. (Lifetime sales now exceed over a quarter of a million copies.) A dream come true!
Since then, I’ve written over a dozen non-fiction books.
Like many writers, I’ve worked for a variety of organisations, including a high street bank in southwest London, a government development agency, and a local authority somewhere on the Welsh Borders. When not writing, you’ll find me out walking and taking photographs.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is my first novel, Blooming Murder, which is the first in my Marquess of Mortiforde series. It tells the tale of Aldermaston, who has recently become the Eighth Marquess, battling to help his local community of Mortiforde win the Borders Most Blossoming Market Town competition.
Unfortunately, this is no ordinary flower competition, because while the hanging baskets might look beautiful, they’re being used to kill people!
I was inspired to write it when I heard a news story of a nearby underground salt mine being used by a criminal gang. When I realised they were growing ‘illegal’ plants underground, it made me wonder what else you might grow underground!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not that I’m aware of. Especially as every writer drinks gallons of tea when writing their books, don’t they?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I love MC Beaton’s books, particularly her Hamish McBeth and Agatha Raisin books, along with Richard Osman, Debbie Young and Robert Thorogood. I’m also partial to a thriller by Robert Goddard, and Robert Galbraith.
What are you working on now?
I’m just putting the finishing touches to book 2 in my Marquess of Mortiforde series. It’ll be called Foraging for Murder.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Websites like this are fantastic. Knowing that they’re read by readers looking for their next read is perfect.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Concentrate on your work, don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. They’re on their writing journey – you are on yours. They’re two different journeys. Just worry about yours.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Get it written, then get it right. Bash the first draft out. You can always sort it out afterwards. But until you’ve got a first draft, you’ve nothing to sort out!
What are you reading now?
A book! (Sorry, about that!) I’m currently reading a new book by a writer-friend of mine, called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, by Eleanor Harriet Loxley. It’s set in France during the second world war and tells the tale of two families.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Dare I say it – Book 3 of the Marquess of Mortiforde series? I’m just fleshing out my ideas now.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
They’d need to be big books🤣 to keep me going! (Mind you, the latest Robert Galbraith is nearly 1,000 pages!)
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