Writing Background
My primary career was as a consulting engineer, but I now write full-time.
My earliest memories involve words. Entering the Mosgiel Public Library for the first time was like discovering a fairy-cave of knowledge, more thrilling to my pre-school self than Santa’s grotto in Arthur Barnetts’ department store over the hill in Dunedin.
About twenty years ago I began writing travel articles as a sideline/hobby. Typically with a strong historical backdrop, the pieces were well received by editors, and published in magazines such as Avenues, Latitude, NZ Today, AA Directions, and Australian Traveller, as well as the Otago Daily Times and Evening Post newspapers. You can read some of these on the Samples page.
In 2013 I was engaged to write the corporate history Strength to Strength: A 75-year History of Powell Fenwick Consultants. Researching this story fueled my interest in writing about history, leading to my writing Murder on the Maungatapu: A narrative history of the Burgess Gang and their greatest crime. The book was published in 2016 by Canterbury University Press and shortlisted for the NZ Heritage Book Awards. Reviews of the book were universally positive, and I gave several radio interviews and public talks on the subject.
A career of preparing engineering specifications, plain-English reports and technical guides taught me how to write clearly, concisely, and accurately. They are the same skills needed in all forms of writing and need not come at the expense of creative flair.
In a Previous Life:
I grew up in Mosgiel and worked as a design draughtsman at the Ministry of Works in Dunedin. In 1987 I moved to Christchurch, and worked as a mechanical engineer. In 2021 I moved to Wanaka, retiring from engineering in early 2024 to concentrate full-time on writing.
I played senior cricket for twenty years as a mad fast bowler and recklessly aggressive batsman. I represented NZ at under 23 and under 20 age group level and played some one-day cricket for Otago. I also played senior level soccer (as it was called then), and competitive chess at the Otago Chess Club.
Interests
Football, cricket, running, hiking, mountainbiking, chess, travel reading, history, and writing.
Travel Blogs
I have written travel blogs for three European holidays in the last ten years. They were fun to write and to look back on. They also show my less formal writing style. Click the icons below for links.
