"I live in Kent, England, and I work as a trade union representative. I have been writing the beginnings of stories for nearly thirty years, but finishing them is a fairly recent habit...

I was brought up on writers like Tolkien, Moorcock and Henry Treece, and then studied English and Theatre Studies at Warwick University, where I was introduced to the epic tradition and Jacobean revenge drama. But whether it's classic literature or pulp fiction, what I really love is a cracking good story. Major heroes other than those mentioned are: R.E. Howard, Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe and Stephen King.

The characters featured in these stories, and the lands they inhabit, are based more or less on an RPG game I developed with my brother, Rob, and our friend Steve McCulley about twenty years ago. I don't believe RPGs translate easily into fiction, but I hope you enjoy the results of twenty years of fermentation."

John can be reached at johnnyboy@bregil.freeserve.co.uk