Married twice, the first time for 17 years, the next for 22 and still going. Between us my wife and I have six children (All grown up now) 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. Born in Wales and brought up in Liverpool, I emigrated to the Wirral in 2004.

 

I didn’t start writing until I was 60 years of age and only then because I suffered from ill-health. The thought of the rest of my life vegetating in front of the TV didn’t really appeal, so I looked for something to keep the brain active, even if the body was shot to bits.

 

I suppose it was a strange choice to make, especially as I had never gained a formal education in English. I left school the day before my sixteenth birthday, signing on as a deck boy on a ship the next day. Since then I have worked all my life in a variety of occupations and trades, including window cleaning,  a stint in the building trade as a plasterer, work in a biscuit factory, a telecom's factory and as a telephone operator for the GPO later known as BT, finishing my working life as a taxi driver. when BT made us all redundant.

 

My first stint at writing was in my twenties, but it was short lived due in the main to the lack of word processors. Thankfully they now exist, and my wife could not be more supportive offering constructive criticism where needed and praise where it is not. Without her I doubt very much I would have a word down on paper..

 

My main work has been about galactic invasion and alien abduction. What was supposed to be a story of about 90 to 100 thousand words quickly grew to over three quarters of a million in a series of four books. I have since re-written and refined it bringing  the total content down to just under half a million, Now a trilogy and available in E-book format at www.smashwords.com

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I am a member of Wirral Writers, a local club where writers meet and critique each others work giving constructive advice where it is needed. Since joining I have written a few short stories to help hone my skills. It is something I am really enjoying and intend to keep on with.

 

In closing  I would encourage people to take up the pen, you are never too old to begin, and the satisfaction of seeing something on paper that YOU have written and is straight out of YOUR mind cannot be adequately explained. I might never be another J.K. Rowling, but I doubt she gets anymore pleasure out of writing than I do