College Life and facts

After finishing school he studied in Exeter College, Oxford where he did his Bachelors in Arts in 1968.

He taught middle school children at Bishop Kirk Middle School in Summertown, North Oxford. Along with teaching he started pursuing his love that was ‘writing’. His first book was ‘The Haunted Storm’ that also received the ‘New English Library’s Young Writer’s’ Award in 1972. He also wrote an adult fiction novel called ‘Galatea’ in 1978. Inspired by his school plays he wrote his first book for children named ‘Count Karlstein’ in 1982. After his second book ‘The Ruby in the Smoke’ was published in 1982, he stopped teaching and devoted all his time to writing books.

He also discovered William Blake‘s illustrations in 1970 that also influenced him in his works later on. In the same year he got married to Judith Speller.