By default, rather than design, I ended up with a business degree and became a reluctant accountant. When an opportunity to go to Sudan arose as what I regard as a paradox - a volunteer accountant - I took it and was gone before anyone could tell me maybe I should think about it first! I was going to make a difference, give something back... but it all turned out very differently to how I might have expected! After the trials of military-controlled, war-torn Sudan, Kenya called my name and I loved the relative freedom there; I worked hard on a consulting project that involved applying to the government for permission to put up the price of beer but at every opportunity, I took off on safari or into the hills or to the ocean. Africa changed me, as is its way. I grew up in a house full of books and from an early age my reading was diverse and extensive. Throughout my life I often wrote short stories and poetry as an emotional response to some particularly good or bad event. Finally, after too many years as a reluctant accountant, I retired from figures to focus on writing and this has allowed me to pursue one of my great passions; trying to understand what makes people tick. I am constantly blown away by real people and real events; if I wrote my stories as weird and perverse as some people's reality, my writing would be dismissed as being over the top!