Born and raised in Southend-in-Sea, Essex, I studied at Bristol and Oxford before spending five hugely happy years as minister of Leigh Baptist Church, Lancashire, and then a further seven – equally as much enjoyed – at Gas Green Baptist Church, Cheltenham. From there I went on to serve from 1996 to 1999 as a chaplain with the national charity Toc H: a wonderful movement committed to breaking down barriers in society and bringing people together from all walks of life.

In 1998, following the publication of my first book, I changed direction, taking up a writing ministry while earning my living as an editor and proofreader, which I continue with today, despite being diagnosed in 2010 with myeloma, an incurable cancer of the blood. I’ve been receiving treatment ever since, including two stem-cell transplants following high-dose chemotherapy, and happily, over ten years on, I’m still here, still writing, and still feeling hugely positive about the future.

Among my many books are the ever-popular No Ordinary Man (books 1 and 2), Prayers for All Seasons (books 1 and 2) and Daily Prayer (books 1 and 2), all published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd. Personal favourites of mine include Are You Listening?, The Teacher, Poems to Help You Pray, A Calendar of Classic Prayer, and The Animal Lover’s Daily Prayer Book. In complete contrast, for all you word-game lovers out there, I have also recently had published Can I Have a Word: A Fun Guide to Winning Word Games, just the thing for Scrabble fans, Words with Friends aficionados or Lexulous lovers.