Biography

I'm pretty sure my life could be described as 'ordinary'.  Certainly nothing bad has happened.  I remember some nosebleeds, but those weren't from fights, rather they were caused by nurses pushing tubes up my nose.  As a teenager I should have tidied my bedroom more frequently, but instead dreamt of being a writer and living in a cottage by the sea.  Someone told me that success in any pursuit comes from not doing any housework: it was neither my parents nor my housemates who told me this: evidently successful housework doesn't count.
 
During my early twenties I read too much.  This was a phase I had to go through to find the writers who mattered to me. These would include W.H. Auden and T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway.  To relax I always return to Graham Greene or, a contemporary favourite, Sarah Waters. My copies of Shakespeare and Tolstoy are worn and defaced with scrawl (and often the scribblings have nothing to do with the book, unless I really thought the Rostovs ate pizza, salad, garlic bread).  Tolstoy has taught me far more than school ever did.  The school teacher I recall most fondly told the class Wordsworth's poetry was dull and I've always agreed with this.
  
Studying Philosophy at evening classes taught me how to think a little better, and the Good Book Guide gave me pocket money for reviewing fiction. 
 
My second novel 'Creating Adam' roused some interest from literary agents. It wasn’t in a finished state and I hastily finished it. I have learned from my mistake. Meanwhile I started learning Russian. The highlight of 2007 was a month spent in Russia and Ukraine looking for people called Natalya. This was not difficult and instead I sang folksongs on trains, slept in a tent in Siberia, and dared to drink vodka with a man twice my size.  I can't recall how the drinking session finished.
 
I think writing has to be a habit; part of my routine. This said I have abandoned my commitment to writing every morning. There are many other activities to fill my free time. My Russian needs a lot of hours devoted to it, and I’d like to think I set aside more time for friends than I once did. I’m enjoying listening to jazz at the moment - but really I have no ear for music.