I joined the (British) Royal Navy at the age of seventeen, and was a leading Wren Regulator, with the equivalent rank to sergeant in the military police.
During that time, I studied Naval Law and Military History.
After the Navy I went to work for a travel company as an overseas representative and spent seasons in the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and North Africa.
I then spent twelve years as a bodyguard for a Saudi Princess of the Salman family.
I travelled extensively, met a lot of interesting people, and spent a lot of time waiting for my princess to get out of bed, eat lunch, and spend long days of clothes shopping and cake eating!
This was their life; eat, shop, eat, sleep – not a life I would have chosen for myself.
I was also a part time cabin-crew member for British Airways, Worldwide fleet. I think I might have travelled the world two or three times. I loved the job but, unfortunately, I was injured on board. The aircraft, a Boeing 747, was flying at 39,000 feet above Africa, and was caught in clear-air turbulence. As the plane dropped, my body flew upwards, and only stopped flying upwards when my head hit the ceiling – the way I see it, it could have been a lot worse – I could have gone through the ceiling. As a result of this accident, I had to have three major operations on my spinal cord at the neck, bone grafts from my hips, and a metal cage screwed in to keep the neck on my shoulders. These operations heralded the end of my wandering days; my swimming, walking, and dancing days, too.
As you can imagine, being paralysed for a while was no fun, but when my neurosurgeon suggested that I might get feeling back in my arm and fingers if I purchased a computer and typed every day, my life brightened. Typing, not something I’d done before, grew into more than just me tapping on a keyboard; the words grew into a cohesive story, which eventually became my 745-page debut novel, The Guardian of Secrets, a #1 International Bestseller in five countries.
I’m happy to report that I am now a fulltime author with ten…almost eleven books to my name and with a lot of baby books milling around in my mind.
You could say; I found my calling.
Still on this note, if anyone reading this is going through spinal surgery, chronic pain, paralysis, or depression because of your condition, believe me, I have been there, I understand.
But what I’ve learnt since my darkest days is that the human spirit when strong and determined, can overcome the toughest adversities – never give up, never surrender.
These are my titles to date: The Guardian of Secrets, was first published in 2013, and it also has a completed screenplay. It’s a #1 international bestseller and a multi award winning book.
Book 1 of The Mercy Carver Series
Book 2 of The Mercy Carver Series
Book 1 of The Flock Trilogy
Book 1 of The Carmody Saga
The equal to The Errant Flock
Book 3 of The Flock Trilogy
Book 1 of The Half Blood Trilogy
Book 2 of The Half Bloods Trilogy
The final book in The Half Bloods Trilogy
The sequal to Swearing Allegiance