Cal has lived in Serbia, Japan, Mexico, Italy and the UK. He has met wanted criminals, dealt with visa scams and escaped NATO bombing. The Balkan Route & The Woman with a Bullet in Her Leg are part of his Balkan Noir series, published by Fahrenheit Press. In 2015, he was awarded a Literature Wales Writers’ Research Bursary for The Balkan Route. Cal interviewed a police inspector in Belgrade and was assisted by a linguist with a bullet in her leg who provided insights into the Serbian underworld. He turned her story into a real-life thriller. Cal has an MA in Screenwriting, teaches Creative Writing and Writing Media. In 2019, he was awarded a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship as an author to help university students with their writing skills.