I’m Australia’s crime writing mystic. If you’ve taken a look around, you’ll know I don’t restrict myself to writing crime fiction and exploring the deep and meaningful.

I’m one of those country boys that went to the city to study, met an Italian girl on campus and decided to stay. These days, we have two grown sons and a daughter-in-law, and spend our family time on Skype. Some kids move to another city. Ours are a bit more adventurous – they moved to other countries.

When I was young and enthusiastic, I taught Science, Maths and Italian in High Schools. Hopefully, I inspired a few kids and entertained the rest.

I spent my last fifteen years in the workforce with the Australian Taxation Office, where, although I was employed as a tax auditor, I spent most of my time writing procedures and doing project work to support auditors in the field. Now I get to do what I love doing: writing.

After schools, I explored the world of banking and finance, where I got myself an accounting degree – not much call for Biological Sciences in the world of money. I share some of what I learnt in the world of work in the Everyday Business Skills series.

My writing as a mystic is inspired by my life long interests in spirituality, current affairs, and social justice. I am what is called a modern or urban mystic, one with a call to engage with the world and not hide away in a monastery or ashram as ancient mystics did.

The crime stories come from a lifetime of reading and observing human behaviour, and an active imagination. Fortunately, the only place I kill people is within the pages of a story but, to be honest, I’ve amassed quite a total over the years since I published After, the first book in the Inspector West series.

Follow the link to Vimeo below to watch a recording of me talking about my life and work as a crime writing mystic at the Soul Talks forum in Adelaide.