ABOUT ME AS A WRITER
My novels
I have written two novels, with a third currently in progress. If one of them were published, it would be my debut novel. The three stories share a common character and can be read in any order. Lies Within the Rainforest follows Simon Jones, who later appears as a journalist in Little Pieces of Sophie. Eating the Heart of the Dog tells the story of Harry, Jack’s father in Little Pieces of Sophie. Each novel explores a central question: What made Jack fall so deeply in love with Sophie? What drove Simon to become a journalist? And what made Harry so angry? All three stories reflect my passion for social justice and my belief in the power of ordinary people to create meaningful change.
For more information about my novels, select the links below:
For information on the influences on my stories, select the links below:
- Influences of my father’s stories on Little Pieces of Sophie and Eating the Heart of the Dog
- The influence of my teaching experience in Papua New Guinea on Lies Within the Rainforest
My background
My mother and father met while working at the Uganda Electricity Board. My mother came from a family of wool mill workers in Leeds, UK. My father, who was twenty years older than her, grew up in the slums of Manchester. I was born at Mengo Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. My sister was born there too. I’m told I was fluent in Swahili as a child.
We moved to England just before I turned five. At school, I struggled with writing, and my teacher often rapped my knuckles with a ruler for poor spelling. I failed my eleven-plus exam and went on to attend Millfield Secondary Modern in Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire. After finishing school at sixteen, I began working in the pathology laboratories at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Four years later, I decided to pursue further education and graduated from Manchester University in 1984 with a degree in Bacteriology and Virology, becoming the first in my family to attend university.
In 1987, after training as a science teacher, I volunteered with Voluntary Service Overseas and spent two years teaching in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. It was there that I began writing fiction. When my contract ended, I emigrated to New Zealand and taught science in the Hutt Valley. I took my first creative writing class in 1990 with Frances Cherry, a New Zealand novelist.
In 1994, I briefly returned to the UK and was awarded an Arvon grant to attend a residential creative writing course with Anne Enright. In 1996, I earned an MA in the Teaching and Practice of Creative Writing from Cardiff University. During this time, I completed my first novel, Nothing But Rainforest, set in Papua New Guinea. I was represented by Anne Dewe at the Andrew Mann Literary Agency in London. Although we came close several times, we were unable to secure a publisher.
In 2002, I returned to New Zealand with my wife and our two-year-old daughter. While raising my daughter and working full-time as a teacher, I took a long break from fiction writing. Later, I began working part-time for the University of Otago as a science facilitator for schools, which allowed me the time and space to return to writing.
I have written two novels, and am currently working on my third novel, Eating the Heart of the Dog, set in East Africa a year after the Second World War. My second novel, Little Pieces of Sophie, was completed in 2022.
In 2025, I completely revised my Papua New Guinean novel and was awarded a place in the New Zealand Society of Authors Mentorship Programme, a highly competitive and prestigious initiative that pairs emerging writers with experienced mentors.
