My father was Dutch, with German and Spanish origins, while my mother was Welsh, sprung from what I later realised was the ‘Welsh Twilight.’ Both the dark sides of Europe – France in particular, and Wales, have provided the material for most of my crime chiller novels which to me, are not ‘fiction.’ Why? Because the heightened realism of their settings and characters are more real to me than everyday encounters and places already familiar. The heightening of reality stems from a love of symbolism and surrealism beginning with the early Flemish School’s visual narratives, whose gruesomely detailed depictions of cruelty in the most beautiful colours have haunted me for many years.
Betrayal and deceit, and what lies beneath, are my main pre-occupations when writing either novels, short stories and poetry. Betrayal on either a national or intimate scale, is terrifying. I want my books to roll back stones. To explore the ‘why?’ yet to finally offer the tiniest spark of hope, without which we would not have emerged from the Dark Ages. My collection of short stories (including the H.E Bates prizewinner, ‘Strangers Waiting’ (also the collection’s title) originally published by bluechrome, is available on Kindle. Allthough ‘Cut To The Bone,’ my ninth chiller, was optioned for film by Lindsay Oliver Donald on June 1st 2017, nothing seems to have happened. I completed the screenplay which Hannah Spedding fine-tuned. I also organised a macabre ‘nursery rhyme’ track involving Theo C. Cupier, Marc Weinsweig and Sarah Dickson.
Meanwhile I’ve been working on my crime noir series set near Le Mans, featuring the young, dogged Delphine Rougier who works as a hotel chambermaid, wants to be a gendarme. ‘Downfall’ has just been published by Sharpe Books on Kindle, while ‘Featherblade,’ ‘Fearless’ and ‘Fatal’ are also finished. My ex-DI John Lyon trilogy which kicks off with ‘The Nighthawk,’ has been published in pb. by Death Watch Books and on Kindle by Sharpe Books. It’s set in the eastern Pyrenees, where one false move changes his life for ever.
Next, is ‘Bloodlines’ set in west Wales and the Poitou area of France, then ‘Death Knell’ set mainly in Norfolk. ‘Ghosts from the Past’ is a Kindle version of all three, also published by Sharpe Books, and pb. versions will be available soon. Endeavour Media have recently re-published my backlist of ‘Wringland,’ ‘Cloven,’ A Night With No Stars.’ ‘Prey Silence’ and ‘Come and be Killed.’ These are available in both Kindle and as pbs. This year, 2019, I’m taking part in many literary events, meeting readers and fellow crime writers.
