Work history: sixteen years’ language teaching (including lunchtime and evening classes), twenty years as a domestic conveyancer, over forty yuears ‘ freelance translation plus a few years as a public service inetroperter (mainly police and courts).

Writing (always an ambition): my 2024 novel A Saint Emerging was originally written in the 1980s, inspired by a particular case I dealt with as a conveyancer; the short stories Impausible Tales of an Erstwhile Conveyancer are similarly sourced but entirely fictional, the idea being to illustrate various aspects of land law in a light-hearted andreadable way. The Garnermoor Trilogy of ‘murder mystery’ type playlets are intended for social or charitable events. The novella  The Cattlebridge Charabanc is just a cheerful tale inspired by my redundancy in 1992 . A sequel is in course of publication and a post-sequel has been submitted to the publisher. I am currently working on a sequel to A Saint Emerging.

Publisher’s blurbs:

Implausivble Tales of an Erstwhile Conveyancerer

“… an interesting legal topic to research: is a will apparently signed in the course of an out-of-the-body experience and witnessed by a cat valid?”

The Garnermoor Trilogy

These three playlets are not meant as serious drama. They are designed to be performed at charitable events as a fund-raising medium. While each is self-contained, they form an ongoing narrative and with a little ingenuity could perhaps, if required, be amalgamated as a single performance. Traditionally, however, the evening should consist of a three-course meal (as simple as you like) plus coffee, the courses to be served after each act in turn. Tables should be set for a maximum of six diners each, who will form teams competing to suggest a solution to the mystery. Prizes should be offered for successful detection.

The first playlet, The Garnermoor Inheritance, requires very little technical provision; the other two are slightly more demanding, but should not be beyond the capability of an amateur group. Provided that the script is followed reasonably closely, the director has absolute discretion as to how the playlets are presented. Go for it!

The Cattlebridge Charabanc

Who would travel across France and Spain in an old bus on a quest to trace the origin of an ersatz whisky bottle, with two female companions, neither of them related to him? Hugh Stebbingfold would. And did…

A Saint Emerging

It was supposed to have been the start of a new life for David and Helena Halstow when they moved from a Home Counties dormitory town to East Anglia. But after only a few months David dies suddenly, leaving Helena alone in a town she hardly knows…