I was born a Lincolnshire Yellowbelly in the shadow of the great Lincoln Cathedral, on 8th June 1962. When I was five my family moved to Sydney (the Ten Pound Pom, etc) and then moved back to Lincoln in 1972, which is where my informative years were spent. I can remember a day at primary school when reading and writing clicked. I could just do it. But I really enjoyed drawing too. Hyper-real pencil drawings. 5B and 6B pencils. Scalpels and erasers constantly at work. But in the Shires during the 70s and 80s, ‘Art’ wasn’t always appreciated. (Not sure it is even today.) My father was an engineer. He expected me to be one too. He was disappointed. I was determined. I knew that my skills – and my horizons – lay beyond the Shires. Studying Maths was a bore. But English, the Sciences and reading science-fiction was a delight. And an escape. I particularly loved the Edgar Rice-Burroughs series – John Carter of Mars, Tarzan of the Apes – inspired both by the cover art and the incredibly inventive words and worlds conjured within. I read all the time. First comics, COR!!, The Beano, SHOOT!, all the various Marvel comics, then adventure, Sci-fi, Fantasy. Escaping the everyday, every day.
After A levels, there was a life-changing, one-year foundation course at Lincoln College of Art. It brought together like-minded students but, most importantly, it showed a Shire-boy like me that there were ways to harness my passions in art, and increasingly, in the power of words. All roads pointed to London and there I headed. I completed an honours degree in Graphic Design at Middlesex Poly (formerly Hornsey College of Art – where legends like James Herbert and Adam Ant had studied). The course touched on Illustration, Art History, Graphics (obvs) Photography and Animation. But it also had an advertising element. In one lesson our guest ad writer, Phillip Cherrington, showed us his now iconic ‘Show your tongue you love it’ ad for Polo Mints. A eureka moment. For the first time I realised you really could turn words into wonga. Make a living from writing. The penny, quite literally, dropped.
And for decades, that’s exactly what I did. I went from junior writer to head of copy to executive creative director. And all the time I was honing my craft as a wordsmith. I think the reason many authors are spawned from Adland is that you simply have to come up with the goods. Writers' blocks don’t exist. Can’t exist. You need to ideate instantly. Across an incredibly diverse roster of brands. Over an ever-multiplying number of platforms: TV, cinema, radio, press, posters, long-form copy measured in tens of thousands of words to short-from social posts with just 280 characters to play with (and that includes spaces!). Copy crafting skills are honed. Timings are tight. Discipline is taught. And, sooner or later, most ad writers want to write for themselves rather than for their clients. I was the same. And the thing about being an ad writer is that you tend to think and write in pictures. Which is probably why quite a few people who've read BRID: Fight or Flight say they see the action unfolding like a movie or a TV series.
Now I work a dual-writing life - in Adland and as an author. I write constantly. In my study. On the move. In cafes. In my car parked by a picturesque nearby lake (iPhone notes are a gift for authors). And, increasingly I travel to write. A week in Rome. 10 days in Venice. And for BRID, short writing visits to The Tower of London, HMS Belfast and Windsor Castle were needed. More trips are planned...