‘Life is an adventure’ is a phrase that we often hear, but I wonder how many of you either live a life that is an adventure or wish that you could. I’ve been lucky throughout my life and taken turnings and forks in the road that may not have been the most sensible, have turned out in a way I couldn’t have foreseen, but have mostly been an adventure.

It seems I like writing adventure stories too. My first book Nero was a space opera with a helping of romance but really an adventure story in space. I am releasing my second book on 1^st December and its title is Zamira Saliev. It’s the first in the Dept 6 Operations series. It’s firmly in the adventure category. The full details are at the end, but it involves Flick Colonna going to Tarinor to rescue Zamira Saliev from kidnappers for an undercover government agency. There is lots of adventure to be had in the mountains of Tarinor.

My personal adventure kick took off when instead of going to the local grammar school I convinced my parents to get a grant and send me to boarding school. From there I decided to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service, having had nothing to do with the Navy or the sea during my life.

While in the Navy in my free time from work, I volunteered for all sorts of interesting events including the Royal Tournament, various horse shows as a fence re-builder and military tattoos with a variety of jobs. I spent eighteen months in Naples, Italy and visited numerous ships of many countries. I got to meet members of the Royal Family and served with the Royal Marines in Northern Ireland on live operations. I went to places and saw events many people would be jealous of. It has given me a richness in my life that is irreplaceable. 

That ten years of my life was one long adventure and I have continued to try and follow the same ethos as I’ve got older. My wife and I still leave the house, get in the car, and go on an adventure.

It means that whatever happens we will enjoy it and take away the best of it. We will always be ready for laughter and deal with any frustration, taking the good moments away to remember. Because in the end, you won’t remember the times you spent in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac