Who am I?

I’m a professional writer, editor and writing blogger living in London. I’ve sold more than 4 million copies of books worldwide, although you won’t have seen my name on the covers as I ghostwrote for high-profile authors (also see Who else am I?).

I have edited for a leading literary consultancy in London and am now a freelance book doctor. Details of clients are confidential, but I am allowed to reveal that a manuscript I doctored was awarded the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012. I teach creative writing masterclasses for The Guardian newspaper in London. I’ve worked as a story consultant with the thriller publisher Inkubator Press and with the award-winning independent film maker Urszula Antoniak.

I also blog for Writers & Artists Yearbook.

Wait, wait wait wait wait. That’s all work. What about play?

I ride horses. I love stately homes, rolling countryside, radio telescopes and 1960s and 1970s design. I love the intricate studio albums of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Can and Laurie Anderson. I love creative people and am blessed to know many whose talents amaze me. And creativity – writing and story wrangling – is my play as well as my work. I write about all that in my newsletter.

My first published novels were in the guise of other people. I’m now coming into the daylight with books of my own. I write fiction and essays about people who are haunted in unusual ways.