My training was in the field of Fine Art. After 5 years full-time at colleges of art, I obtained the National Diploma in Design (NDD) and the Art Teachers' Diploma (ATD). Then followed the obligatory two-year stint of National Service. "Square bashing" over, I was allocated to the Royal Army Education Corps and spent the rest of my time in Muenster, Germany, odd-jobbing as Garrison artist. (Who says Providence never smiles!) Life's next season - a period of 27 years - saw me teaching art in secondary schools, marrying a wonderful Liver bird called Myra, three sons (the first of whom, severely handicapped, died aged 2). I retired from teaching at 50 and set up my own Art & Design studio.
Where does writing come into the story? I've always written for my own pleasure: pieces include a Christmas musical, performed at my last school; a poem published in a small anthology, and a short story published in a local weekly paper. Now I'm getting down to business seriously; "Eight Minute Farm" is my first novel, and the next is already begun.
