Way back in 2001, I conceived an idea for a novel. Well, more than a novel... a whole saga. I'd always loved fantasy fiction - Tolkien, Gothic stuff, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and the like - and all of a sudden, I came up with a plot and characters for a story of my own called The Lay of Angor. It's been bubbling along in the background of other work ever since, a piece of pure escapism I find an absolute hoot to write - a nice little holiday from the real world of heritage consultancy and more recently, historical research and publishing.

One of the fun things about it is being free to plunder medieval and classical history... using real politics and attitudes of the past dressed up in imaginary trappings to create a world of my own where all sorts of outrageous things can (and do) happen. The first volume, Gondarlan, appeared as an e-book in November 2010, and came out in paperback in May 2011. I'm now self-publishing revised and improved second editions of both, which will be available soon - watch this space!