Author and musician
I am an author and musician who lives and works in the south of England. I have published four novels in recent years, and have been writing and composing for over fifty years.
Places matter. Music and the British countryside have always been strong influences in my life and I bring them together in my novels. The title of my story Moses Trod comes from a path in the Lake District, a former pack pony track taking slate from the mines at Honister to the port on the coast. The novel also encompasses other areas such as the South Downs in Hampshire and Sussex. I know the areas described in my stories and much of my work is inspired by the places I see in long walks across the British countryside. Particularly, I love the many paths that traverse the wild hills and valleys of north eastern England that form the main location for my novel Cliffington.
People matter. I tend to write longer, complex stories (the four books so far published add up to around 935,000 words!). As a consequence, they contain a lot of characters and I like to have the space to develop these people and provide depth and interest. Readers often ask whether characters are taken from real life. The simple answer is no, they are not – at least not in the sense that I ever have a specific person in mind. In fact, the characters tend to develop from the necessities of the plot and my initial sketches will turn into something or someone that starts to breathe their own life and take over. They have a purpose to serve and need to illustrate that purpose. The characters in my novels can be very demanding!
Stories matter. Everything is subservient to the plot. I always have a reasonable outline of the main story before I commence any serious writing. That is not to say that I won’t have collected together all manner of sketches, ideas and random sentences in notebooks (I always carry a notebook with me wherever I go) over a period of years that then feed into the final book. None of my books are just one story, I like to have a lot going on to entertain the reader. Sometimes, I will deliberately leave something hanging, perhaps to leave it as a question in the reader’s mind. I also like to try and introduce at least an element of light-heartedness to even the most serious work.
In short, a good variety makes for a plausible world and a good novel will always exist within a believable world with believable people doing believable things.
I am taking the opportunity to re-publishing second editions of all four books and have revised them all in some depth, making corrections and small changes as appropriate for a new edition. I have been working hard on preparing the four novels for publication in 2026. The revisions correct errors that have been brought to my attention, and also make a number of changes and improvements along the way. I have never believed books should be set in stone while the author is alive. Some of these changes have been suggested by reader’s comments and others from a fresh view of the work. Although my most recent book (The Legends of the Ages) has only minor amendments, the earlier books have rather more changes.
I have been playing and recording music, and writing songs for many years. I have a deep affinity to folk instruments such as mandolin, cittern, banjo and dulcimer, all of which I use in my recordings. My mainstay and the instrument I most often use to write songs is the guitar. I believe that music crosses boundaries and joins people wherever they live and whatever their beliefs. A musical message is a universal message.
The Books
The Follower was the first book I published. Over the course of the last few months I have been revising my earliest published novel, The Follower. This novel was originally written over thirty years ago (for my, then young, son). When I eventually published it in 2012, I made many changes and improvements. It also benefited from some excellent chapter heading pen and ink illustrations provided by my wife (a trained artist), as well as some maps and other graphics. However, I was never entirely happy with this work. After years of experience and three other novels, I felt I could improve the book. Hopefully, the end result justifies the time spent. I feel the story is now more cohesive and has an additional edge, as well as a hint of romance about it. The excellent chapter heading pen and ink illustrations were provided by my wife (a trained artist), as well as some maps and other graphics. However, I was never entirely happy with this work. After years of experience and three other novels, I felt I could improve the book. Hopefully, the end result justifies the time spent. I feel the story is now more cohesive and has an additional edge, as well as a hint of romance about it.
Paperback edition: 315 pages. ISBN: 978-1-9999455-3-4
Moses Trod was something of an epic when I wrote it. It took two years to write, working evenings and weekends. At over 240,000 words, it is quite a big book – but I am told it reads quickly. The story revolves around the life of Mark Hunter, who becomes a businessman and musician. A host of characters populates the novel in a persuasive tapestry of English life through the latter part of the twentieth century where love, music and greed collide with explosive consequences in this lively story.
Beneath this fast flowing tale, Moses the tramp wanders the streets and hills, weaving the threads of the unfolding drama that brings together the art of beauty, truth, lies, greed and humility in a rich picture of a changing society searching for an idyll that proves as illusive as it is compulsive.
“It was the hills that made him.”
Paperback edition: 553 pages. ISBN: 978-0-9570-6219-1
Cliffington was the third novel I published. Set among the wild, atmospheric hills and coasts of north-eastern England, where nature holds sway as much as any woman or man, Cliffington looks like a rural idyll, but is not immune to the events of the world. A story of trial and obsession, of love and hope, Cliffington reveals the strength and frailties of the people, and tests their community to the edge of failure. It is a world apart and yet still torn by the trauma, distress and destruction of wars in distant lands. While always, close at hand, the sea rolls on relentless.
Cliffington is an epic novel, a romance, a mystery, a tragedy and a saga that leads you through a noble landscape, in a story that builds into a glorious crescendo with man pitched against his greatest enemy: himself. Nature is ever present and revealed as the real power surrounding us all.
‘There’s a moment on the turn of the tide when the world stands still, when we hold our breath waiting to see which way the water will flow, as though that might change our lives…’
Available in three paperback editions:
Cliffington – Book One: 479 pages. ISBN: 978-1-9999455-1-0
Cliffington – Book Two: 559 pages. ISBN: 978-1-9999455-0-3
Cliffington Omnibus Edition (Books One and Two): 1033 pages. ISBN: 978-1-9999455-2-7
The Legends of the Ages is my most recent novel. This book is a faerie tale in the old tradition that tells a story that resonates today: of greed, of hunger, of war, of hope and of love. It is set in an imaginary land and age where life was often hard and short. The characters include both a princess and a dragon but the novel has a serious point to make in the here and now. Sometimes, playing out a fantasy can shed light on reality. The Legends of the Ages tackles the subjects of revolution, famine and the tragedy of the resulting mass migration. So it has a very clear place in today’s world.
‘Dreams and nightmares are found of the same dust; an idyll becomes an avalanche; the stream becomes a flood; the lovers fall to war.’
When grief and suffering are inflicted on a struggling people by their arrogant leaders, ignorant and disdainful of the needs of those around them, it is no surprise that a small group of revolutionaries vow to bring down those in power.
‘Revolutions… tear apart society, families, individuals, lovers, colleagues, friends and leave only tears to soak into the bloodstained muddy soil.’
Bella returns to this land, where revolution and war are close at hand and finds an uneasy quiet. She is driven to help the innocent citizens caught up in the turmoil, and seeks to put right the wrongs with all her energy and belief, only to encounter the full horror of tragedy and disaster…
‘The men do not so often come here; I think they just wander off into the woods and find a place to lie down and die. Sometimes we find a body. They have no dignity left, you see. They can’t bear to see the little ones. It breaks their hearts. The women… the women have no hearts left to break.’
Paperback edition: 282 pages. ISBN: 978-1-9999455-4-1
Exoddy 