About the Author
Google my name and you will see that it was as a business author where I had initially established my writing reputation, with invitations from the likes of HarperCollins and the Dragons’ Den production team who were keen to employ my knack for making complex business concepts accessible.
But, thankfully, life changed and, now that I was not driven by the same commercial need, I quickly moved on to completing and publishing my first novella, ‘Killing Time in Kenton’.
I love stories. Other people’s stories. Stories that capture those small snapshots of imperfect living. Like so many writers I collect other people’s anecdotes and tales and squirrel them away ready for the wintery landscape of an empty page.
I am convinced that every good conversation hides something precious that’s waiting to be mined. And it can happen in the most ordinary of circumstances: waiting for a plane; meeting another dog walker; chatting to someone in a supermarket queue. Young, old or some vague point in between, no person’s life is private when a writer
is listening.
My first poem!
November 1980
I’d always written song lyrics as a teenager, but then I attempted a ‘proper’ poem which I called The Museum. No one else has ever seen it – and no one else ever will.
I write the poem, The Ambulance Men
October 1985
I wrote this poem out of a sense of shock, recalling those surreal moments immediately after my father’s early death.
Please be seated for my first short story, Time, Please.
April 1996
Written in a Caffe Nero coffee shop in Guildford whilst my daughter was at drama class, it was based on a character that frequented the same pub I always called in at some years ago.
The short story, Don’t Worry ‘bout Me, is born courtesy of a lot of coffee
June 2003
I was never sure about trying my hand again at another short story, but a visit to a hospice convinced me to have another go.
My first business books are published.
March 2010
Written in a flurry during the summer months of 2009, Management Secrets and Leadership Secrets are published by HarperCollins.
The two Harper Collins titles are made available as audiobooks.
April 2010
A strange experience to hear the words you’ve written on a page read out loud by someone else!
Dragons’ Den: Grow Your Business: How to expand from small to big is published.
May 2010
Co-written with Peter Spalton and Stuart Warner, it was a great project to be involved with.
The short story, The Sheikh of Araby, emerges from the Bedouin tent
April 2012
A short story that almost seemed narrated inside my head by a family friend whose Coventry accent reminded me so much of my late father.
Welcome The Fit Mentor
September 2012
After having conducted a lot of research for Cranfield University regarding their mentor programme, I gain their permission to use the material for a short book.
Interviews and Icebergs
January 2013
I’ve interviewed so many great candidates who had to be discounted because no one had told them a few simple rules about being an interviewee. This book, 40 Interview Icebergs and How to Sail Around Them, helps candidates put that right.
Management Secrets is translated for the Brazilian market
January 2014
Or, to give it its proper title, Segredos Profissionais. Segredos de Gestão. I must get around to finishing it…
Poetry please…
January 2016
Every so often I get the urge to write a poem. This short anthology, Swimming Out to Sea, comprises 16 short poems that point to the most meaningful moments of my life.
A first novel is finally finished
February 2016
Drawing on my own Irish family influences, in my novel, The Separating Sea, I create a divisive character whom I love and despise in equal measure.
Meet Winifred Smy!
August 2022
I shamelessly love a good murder mystery and setting my first novella in this genre in my own village was fascinating. Every day I walk the same streets as my characters.