Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Barney Mole is the car owned by Rufus and can’t under the Vehicle code reveal details about himself. As for me, I am a retired solicitor aged 80, living in the London suburbs with my wife. I have one daughter recently married. This is my first book.
I do amateur dramatics and I love sport, but mostly I love to have days out in the surrounding countryside or by the sea with my wife.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Calendar of Rufus. I was inspired to write it when I wondered what my car would think of me as I drove my car (not Barney) and shouted at other drivers, cursed road works, long red traffic lights and so on. Could my car understand what I was saying and doing, and could it discuss me with other cars?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really, although my handwriting is so bad that, as I have difficulty reading it, I typed the whole book on my computer
What authors, or books have influenced you?
P G Wodehouse and his books on Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, similar in a way to the relationship between Rufus and his car, Barney. I love the dry humour of a Bill Bryson travel book.
What are you working on now?
Nothing, but could start another Rufus book if there was sufficient interest in me doing so.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
For me, word of mouth amongst friends and acquaintances, but PublishNation are organising promotions
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I found writing a great therapy as I could shrug off real life problems and lose myself in the book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Tomorrow is another day.
What are you reading now?
The Man in the High Castle
What’s next for you as a writer?
Maybe a follow-up to A Calendar of Rufus
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?
A book of cryptic crosswords
A book on how to survive on a desert island
An empty notebook to write a book about being stranded on a desert island