Preserving and protecting the countryside is a major driver for me – not surprising given my background. As such I have a strong distaste for those that abuse it – fly-tippers, poachers and people who think they can walk/ride/drive wherever they want.

The increase in rural crime and the scarcity of police resources available to deal with it had sparked an idea in me to write a crime thriller that revolved around these issues. Whilst I’d had the idea for several years – I could envisage the main elements of the plot and I knew some of characters I wanted therein – life was busy and investing the time to write it was the main impediment.

However two things happened to change that – I retired and subsequently Covid came and lockdown began.

So one evening, whilst we were living in rented accommodation pending a house move, I sat down at the laptop and wrote the first chapter. It was the first real test for me and luckily the words flowed almost effortlessly onto the screen. The second chapter followed in a similar fashion and the foundations of the book were laid.

In some of the scenes it true to say that I was so invested in them that the hairs on my neck were standing up and I could hardly type fast enough to capture them. Indeed for all the scenes I was almost an invisible observer looking on and recording what was happening. This told me I was fully invested in the plot and I think that’s the way it should be!