Now the wrong side of 40, I was born in Hammersmith, London, opposite the Guinness factory. I grew up an only child in the polluted wastes of South Harrow. I had the further misfortune to attend Harrow County School for Boys, a Grammar school run along military lines. Bullying was encouraged, misery was compulsory.

Fortunately, my parents moved to the fresher air of the Hampshire coast when I was 14. And after Harrow County, Havant Grammar School - with girls - was a dream.

I'd planned to become an architect (or 'something similar') since primary school yet, having secured a place on the 7-year course at Portsmouth Polytechnic, changed my mind at the last moment and decided to become a Great Artist. I turned my back on Portsmouth in favour of Brighton Poly and a Degree course in Fine Art (Painting). Following this, I launched myself into the cold, uncaring world to make my name and, ideally, a bloated wallet.

In hindsight, this path was probably A Mistake. I spent a couple of decades painting - funded by a few sales from the odd exhibition, and a series of part-time jobs, some of them mind-numbing. These jobs included:

Graphic Designer
Shop Assistant in a Wine Merchants
Designer of Postcards
Conservation Worker
Kitchen Designer
Cryptic Crossword Compiler

At the age of 41 I finally sold out. Having lived in London, Devon, Dorset, Sussex and Sheffield, I ended up back in Brighton, where I took a postgraduate course in Information Systems - once again at the Poly, although it now chose to call itself a University.

And now...
I'm a web site developer with Synetica Knowledge Technologies in Brighton - building mostly intranets for corporate bigwigs - and enjoying it.

I also write the occasional short story - but I won't be trying to make a living out of this.

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