I was born in 1977 in Blackburn, UK. After growing up in Somerset, I moved to Oxford where I studied Modern and Medieval Languages at St Catherine's College. In 2000, I went to live in Hanover, Germany, where I worked as a translator and teacher and tried to grow a handlebar moustache.

A year later and still smooth-faced, I moved to Prague where I did much the same and had my first exposure to Egon Schiele on a weekend trip to his mother's native village in south Bohemia.

In 2003, I moved on and now divide my time between London and Brussels working as a journalist. I am also writing a second novel which might feature beards. Or possibly moustaches.

Here, on the left-hand side, is a picture of me in a bad mood. Sorry.

Feel free to visit me at MySpace.com.