I am one of those writers who didn’t start out either as a writer, or with a burning desire to become one. All of that came later. I started out as a civil engineer; one of those guys who builds bridges, tunnels and such like. Yes, I got my qualifications as a Chartered Civil Engineer and then spent several years working on projects in the UK, the Far East and Africa. Along the way I won the Institution of Civil Engineers ‘Miller Prize’ for a paper on tunnelling; something that is unexpectedly proving very useful forty years later, now that I am writing a story about the construction of a tunnel. Perhaps needless to say this story is not a report.
Unfortunately, the politicians that run this country don’t seem to want what the rest of us do; steady growth, so we have always had cycles of boom and bust. As a result of this I ended up having to travel round the world, which was nice for a year or two until I woke up one morning and realised that I didn't have a home. So I qualified as an Associate Member of both the British Institute of Professional Photography and the Royal Photographic Society, and started my own stock photograph library (the first in the north east of England) and supplied pictures to many of the UK's top book and magazine publishers, produced and sold greetings cards and postcards, and commenced writing for the trade press.
And then times changed yet again, only this time it was the digital revolution hitting us. I met and married my lovely wife, Aud, and we moved from central Newcastle to rural Northumberland. The countryside was wonderful and the Internet line speeds were appalling! One day the whole thing packed up on me for several days and so, as I was unable to work on line, I decided to make a start on a series of short stories / novellas and drafted the first two of them, and so ‘The Red Grouse Tales’ came into being. There are now six novellas and one novel (The Ghost Moth).
Last year (2021) Aud, my beloved wife of thirty years, died of cancer. Her illness and subsequent death threw my life into complete turmoil and it is only now, one year later, that I am gradually getting back into ‘living’ and writing again. At present I have two other Red Grouse Tales novellas on the back burner, however my main project right now is a modern take on Dante’s Divine Comedy. The first two parts of this are now almost finished, though I have yet to start on the third. Whether this will end up as a trilogy or a ‘brick’ I haven’t decided yet.
I am not a great fan of ‘the city’. Sure, they have some conveniences and are a bit of fun in small doses, but after that it is nice to get back to the open spaces of fields, fells and forests of Northumberland. Hobbies? - I walk, swim, go to the gym. Now that Covid appears to be behind us, I hope to start travelling again.
Thank you for your interest in my work.
With Best Wishes,
Leslie Garland.
