Current work-in-progress is DEADLY IMPASSE, the fifth in the Jack Calder crime thriller series. The characters are familiar to my readers--- the team at International Security Partners (ISP), ex-SAS officers, Jack Calder and his mate Malky McGuire; Jack’s Asian wife, former Anti-Triad fighter, May-Ling; and former London Serious Crimes Squad commander, Donnie Mullen, take on international drug barons and people-traffickers. The action ranges from the usually calm backwater of a private bank in Luxembourg to the shores of Libya and the perils of migrants in the Mediterranean, all the way to drug-running cartels in Central America.
You’re based in Abu Dhabi. What took you there?
Twelve years ago, I went to Abu Dhabi for a month on a corporate trouble-shooting role for a major local bank. I’m still in the Middle East.
Tell us how you first got into writing.
I’ve been scribbling and writing since my mid teens, graduating from the usual angst–ridden poetry to short stories. There was a gap of several decades until I decided about eight years ago, it was just ‘time’ to write ‘that book’ we all have in us. Wish I’d gotten the bug again a bit sooner. LUVVIN IT!
Who has been the biggest influence on your writing career?
For writing style, my eternal favourite authors are Dickens, Steinbeck, O’Hara and Ruark. The other principal influence has been an international career that has revealed characters, events, places, humour, tragedy and the whole nine yards of life in the raw.
How important are book reviews to you?
They are important inasmuch as people take time and trouble to share their opinion (but, always to remember it is only their opinion). It tends to guide other folks toward the work, good or otherwise, and as the former actress, Mae West, used to say, “I don’t care what they’re sayin’ about me, just so long as they’re sayin’. ” However, reviews should always be taken with a pinch of salt, as most people usually give four- or five-star reviews for publication... the negatives are seldom ever posted, or are, in large part, written by trolls.
If you could go back to the start of your writing career, what if, anything, would you do differently?
Start the ‘building the platform’ of a following on the Internet, including an author’s blog, constantly, before, during and after the book(s) is (are) in process. Modern writers have to be heard above the ‘noise’ and all of the social networks provide channels for readers to get to know them as well as their wee masterpieces.
Who does your book covers?
A friend in Manila is a superb commercial artist, and ‘gets’ what my books’ contents need. I’m delighted with the many positive comments the covers have attracted.
Where can we find out more about your books?
All of my books are on Amazon. Here are the quick links:
THE VIOLIN MANS LEGACY
myBook.to/theviolinmanslegacy
VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK
myBook.to/vengeancewearsblack
SAVAGE PAYBACK
myBook.to/savagepayback
KILLER CITY
myBook.to/calderkillercity
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