I was born in Belper, Derbyshire and lived there for thirty years playing cricket for Belper Meadows. I moved to Baildon, West Yorkshire in 1969. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Dickie Bird at Headingley, during the Yorkshire match with Derbyshire and he thought I still lived in Derbyshire. When he learned I'd lived in Baildon for some years and played cricket for them in the Bradford League, he said, 'All reet then lad, tha' can stay a bit longer.' I took him at his word. Although, I have recently moved to Ilkley.
My partner and I have strong connections with Filey and we visit whenever we can. We are both very fond of the Yorkshire coast and have a number of friends who live there. My favourite city is York and I like nothing better than browsing around the shops in the Shambles and the streets around the Minster.
After a long career as a Senior manager in the textile/chemical industries, I was made redundant and decided to make a career change I obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education at Leeds University and became a teacher for seventeen years. I took early retirement and was at last able to achieve my long-held desire to become a writer.
History and glassmaking have been hobbies of mine for as long as I can remember. Originally intending to write a history of the influential Venetian glassmaker, Jacopo Verselini, who started making glass in London during the reign of Elizabeth I, my research found only a few dramatic events and little on his private life. Lacking detail, I decided to use my imagination. This resulted in The Glass Dagger, the first of a quartet of romantic adventure stories in The Glassmaker Series. I have recently published the second adventure, The Crystal Ship. Book Three, Blood-Red Goblet, is scheduled for publication in 2010 and Book four, A Shattered Crystal in 2011. See link to The Glassmaker Series for details of these books.
I am a member of The Society of Authors and my books are approved by Amazon, Gardners, Bertrams, Waterstones and Borders. Petan has published books for three other authors and there are on-going projects with two more.
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