Terence Wallis was born in Battersea, London in 1958; the product of a remarkably ordinary secondary education, which was more like a sausage factory than a hall of learning. Terence, against all odds, achieved the lofty heights of his parent's expectations, and became an electrician. Construction is not for the feint of heart, as Terry's joints can testify. He married, moved to Sutton, Surrey, then in an attempt to leap off the London hamster-wheel, moved to a small village in Lincolnshire. It was at this point, after reading a truly awful book, he decided he could probably do better and set pen to paper. He still plies his trade as an electrician but, like many others, longs to earn his money writing. 'One day I hope to be walking around a car-boot sale and see my book selling for 20p. Only then will I know I've truly made it,' he says with a smile.