Becoming a writer was never an aspiration. I much preferred reading and becoming lost in other worlds, and never thought for a moment I would become one of the masochists that scribble away for hours on end in the hope that someone out there would actually buy, and enjoy, my work. In fact, if we had not of moved to the Isle of Man I doubt whether I would have ever put pen to paper, so to speak. There is something magical about the Manx air that encourages creativity. For such a small island, there is a wealth of talent over here, whether it be artists, writers, poets, musicians, singers or sculptors; the island has the lot. Just look at the success of Sam Barks, for instance.

Born on the Wirral, I served an engineering apprenticeship before moving across into the damp and timber preservation industry. Not an ideal background for creative writing, but then, I did read a lot. Even when, due to promotion within a large, multi-national company, we moved up to Leeds, I continued to read, using the exercise to escape the pressure that came with the job.

Eventually, the travelling and the time spent away from home became too much so we decided to up sticks and move to the Isle of Man, to start a new life. With a young family in tow, it was a risk, but one we were happy to take, and, as it proved, was the best decision we ever made. We have lived on the island since 1995 and would not dream of moving back to the bigger island we escaped from.

Within a few months of living on the island I again took up playing the guitar and joined a local band. It was great fun, and kick-started my creative side. I started to wonder what it would be like to actually write my own book, and began coming up with draft plots in my head. Carole, my wife, grew tired of me going on about it, and equally tired of me complaining about the lack of books to read that I enjoyed, and told me to stop moaning and get on with writing my own. So I did. All 110,000 words of it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to emulate someone else’s style, and failed.

It was only when trying to sell my two year’s worth of work that I realised my masterpiece was pants. By then I had already started Reluctant Heroes, only this time I wrote for me, and not something that was, at that time, unattainable. Almost by accident, humour slipped into the story, and before I knew it my high fantasy novel turned into a humorous fantasy novel. And so was born book one of the Black Dragon Trilogy.

Whilst doing the rounds with that book I commenced work on another, Bruvvers. Intended to be book two of the trilogy, it got side-tracked and became a stand-alone tome. As yet it is unpublished, but I do have interest in publication. So watch this space.

To my surprise, I got a bite for Reluctant Heroes, and the first edition was published in 2003. Excited by its release, I commenced work on book two, Cronan the Librarian. To my horror, the publisher turned out to be less than was expected and, although I was offered a contract for Cronan, I turned it down.

The next year was spent writing short stories, my experience in the book world having put me off. Also, Reluctant Heroes was tied into a contract for three years, and what publisher would want to release book two without having the rights for book one?

Eventually, I got the rights back to Reluctant Heroes and, buoyed by the feedback from people who had bought it, went through the manuscript yet again - six times in total - to freshen it up before seeing if I could tempt another publisher on board.

It was a long process and I began to think there was a limited market for humorous fantasy, judging from the rejection letters I received with regular monotony, and almost gave up. That was until I tried Frontlist Books. Thankfully, they liked my work and I signed contracts for the release of both Reluctant Heroes and Cronan the Librarian. Reluctant Heroes, second edition, came out in November 2007, with Cronan the Librarian coming out in March 2008. The third in the series, as yet untitled, is plotted and commenced and I hope to have that published in the near future, once written!!

However, the exciting news is I signed contracts with Priory Press for my partially completed sci-fi thriller, Of Light and Shadow. I have a publication date of May 2010 so have to get my skates on to have the book completed by the end of November 2009!

Of Light and Shadow took shape while we were in holiday in Turkey in 2006, when the idea came to me like a vision. The story arc was so strong I had the book plotted and detailed before we arrived home, and I commenced work on it right away. However, around the 40,000 word mark I signed contracts with Frontlist Books, and work stopped on Of Light and Shadow to enable me to edit, promote, and book tour the previous titles.

I was still writing short stories, though, and submitted one to Priory Press for an anthology, A Tail for all Seasons - volume 1. It was accepted, and I was asked to write another for volume 2, to be released November 2009.

As previously stated, I sort of slipped into writing humour, and thought I would change tack with the short and write a more serious story, and Lily was born. Lily is a time-slip romance, and is the sort of writing I am not known for, and I am guessing will raise a few eyebrows upon its release. I hope for all the right reasons, by the way. It certainly raised the eyebrows of the publisher who asked me to write the story and, despite being longer than requested, was accepted.

In discussion, I mentioned how it was my intention to be a serious writer when first I set on the tortuous path to publication, and that I had slipped into humour by accident. Of Light and Shadow cropped up and, after a request to read what I had written, a contract was offered. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I have not set aside writing humour, but am keen to develop my writing style to take on more serious work. Who knows, it may well open up a larger audience. We can but wait and see.

All the best,

Steve