My external life has been uneventful and provides scant material for an exciting autobiography. I am of Anglo-Irish extraction and was born in 1950, at Watford in Hertfordshire, England. Except for a spell in Marin County, California, I lived in Hertfordshire until 1993, when increasing urbanization drove me away. My home is now a village in the Hampshire Downs.

I was educated at Watford Boys' Grammar School and Sussex University, where my interest in natural history led me to read biology. As my course went on I found I was not really cut out to be a scientist, but I finished it anyway and graduated in 1971. I enjoyed my time in Sussex, where I discovered its coast and downland countryside.

From my earliest years, English had been my "best" subject, and shortly before my final exams I decided to try to become a professional writer. The job of the artist - in whichever medium he or she works - is an important one, since, conscientiously practised, it helps us to make sense of ourselves and the world.