Welcome to my entry on AuthorsPlace.
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School Visits
I try to fit in as many school visits during the year as time permits. My talks cover becoming a writer and the amazing history behind my stories. I don't mind how large a group I speak to whether it's a single class, book club, or combined year groups. Teachers & Librarians - if you'd like to enquire about a visit to your school please write to authorevents@btinternet.com the first instance. I also hold workshops on various aspects of creative writing. Alternatively, if you want something a little bit different and exciting for students then why not invite me along to run one of my 'decoding challenges' - where students compete to decode a message using real wartime codes, with prizes for the fastest.
An Introduction to my books
If you love a good adventure with plenty of thrills and spills, twists and turns, the sort that keeps you on the edge of your seat and biting your nails, then I think you'll enjoy my books!
The setting for my stories is the Second World War. Over the years I've lost count of the number of times I've heard people say Children grow up so quickly these days. Undoubtedly true, but it got me thinking! During the war, children living under Nazi occupation really did have to grow up fast - often it could mean the difference between life and death. Step out of line, say something you shouldn't, be somewhere you weren't allowed, and you'd be in serious trouble - really serious trouble. And life would become ten times more dangerous still if you were involved in the Resistance!
Resistance
This was my first book - published in 2007. The setting is Norway, an astonishingly beautiful country of mountains and fjords and vast tracts of wilderness. I chose it because such beauty also has hidden dangers - the wilderness can prove deadly, especially in the depths of winter. In my research for the book I also came across many true wartime stories that inspired me....
For example, during the long dark winter months many brave fishermen sailed their boats back and forth between Norway and the Shetland Islands, carrying agents of the Resistance and vast quantities of supplies. It was extremely hazardous running the Nazi gauntlet and many boats never made it. These boats became known as the Shetland Bus and one features in my book - a boat called the Sola. In my picture gallery I have included some photographs of two boats that made the hazardous crossings.
Wartime Norway also gave rise to many instances of individual courage and heroism - possibly among the most famous was the raid on the Heavy water Plant at Vermok - by the Heroes of Telemark. Among these men was Klaus Helberg - a national hero in Norway - and his story of escaping capture in the Norwegian wilderness is a heart-stopping tale that leaves you breathless. It was his ingenuity and sheer determination to survive that inspired me to use the vast mountain plateau of the Hardanger for my heroes' escape and fight for survival in Resistance.
In Resistance, our hero, Marek Olsen, is just fourteen when war comes to his country. He's an ordinary lad growing up in a small village by a fjord. But Marek's life is turned upside down by the arrest of his father. At first he doesn't understand why. Then he finds out that his father has been working for the Resistance. His older brother, Olaf, is intent on revenge but it all goes horribly wrong and they quickly find themselves on the run from the Nazis. Their escape turns into a race for survival. At death's door they are saved by resistance fighters hiding out on the vast Hardanger plateau - and Marek and his brother are soon drawn into their clandestine world.
Marek considers himself a Jossing - a good Norwegian - but what about the others? They believe there's a traitor in their midst. But who? With unexpected twists and turns Marek and Olaf become immersed in the fight against Nazi tyrrany - a fight Marek learns comes at a heavy price. And then, just as they are making their escape there is a final shocking twist!
Special Operations (The Finn Gunnersen Adventures)
Book 1: Dogfight
Book 2: Death Ray
Book 3: Wolf Squadron
Book 4: Dead or Alive
The amazing adventures of flying-mad teenage hero Finn Gunnersen and his friends Loki and Freya are told in my Special Operations Series. Inspired by the real world of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a secret organisation that trained agents and sent them behind enemy lines during WWII, the series captures the jaw-dropping courage and ingenuity of wartime freedom fighters. Dogfight is the first in the series. Published in 2008 it has received many terrific reviews and recommendations, won the Hampshire Book Award 2009 and was shortlisted for the Lancashire Book Award too. The second in the series Special Operations: Death Ray was published Feb 2009, and the third on 3rd June 2010 (Title: Special Operations: Wolf Squadron). The fourth of the series, called Dead or Alive is also out now, and is my favourite of the series to date. Set in wartime Paris it'll keep you on the edge of your seats as Finn, Loki and Freya unravel the mystery of a missing agent and missing suitcase full of cash.
Many reviews have been published about my books over the last few years, but if you'd like a general overview, a review covering the first three of my Special Operations Series - click on the link to the 'Book Zone for boys' on my home page on this website to take a look.
In my picture gallery I have included a photograph of Trondheim looking from the old town across the famous Gamle Bybro bridge towards the suburbs. This is where Finn cycles into town on a personal mission of revenge at the opening of Dogfight. Although the image is small you may just be able to see a small white building on the top of the hill in the background - this is the infamous Kristiansten Fortress used during the war by the Gestapo to imprison suspected Resistance fighters - and where Finn is held during my story.
The REAL Special Operations Executive.....
I live in the beautiful New Forest in Hampshire - a forest that hides a secret! During WWII about a dozen houses hidden away in the woods were requisitioned and turned into a school - part of the SOE. It's often referred to as the Finishing School for Secret Agents. During the war it is estimated that over 3000 men and women from 15 different nationalities trained there in complete secrecy! In my photo gallery I've included a photogrpah of one of these houses - The Drokes - in which Spanish, Norwegian and Polish agents were trained at one time or another - it is also the inspiration behind 'Mulberry House' in my Special Operations series.
Students were taught many things from forgery to Morse Code and ciphers, methods of disguise, use of secret inks, sabotage, survival etc.... all the things a secret agent needs to survive amid the enemy. There were other parts to the school all around the country.
I'm sure you've all heard of James Bond! And of 'Q' and his wonderful gadgets. It is thought that the author of the James Bond books, Ian Fleming, got his inspiration for them from a department inside the SOE that made gadgets and devices and disguises for equipment. Laboratories were located in several places, including the Natural History Museum in London (there is a commemorative plaque there) - they were known as the Toy Shops. Almost every piece of clothing could hide something useful, like a compass or knife, although many items were much more bizarre, like exploding rats and exploding lumps of camel dung, miniature motor bikes, suitcases containing transmitters... the list is both ingenious and long! In my picture gallery I have included some of these devices along with photos of some of the workshops.
Possibly the most dangerous job of all for an agent was being a wireless operator as the Nazis were extremely good at tracking them down. In Special Operations: Death Ray our heroine, Freya, has the task of becoming the teams wireless operator in occupied France. An example of her heavy suitcase radio is included in my picture gallery - the sets weighed a great deal and had to be carried about under the noses of the enemy (compare that to today's mobile phones!)
There are many books covering the true stories of the SOE. I would recommend you read some of them, especially those about agents like Odette, Violet Szabo, Peter Churchill, Klaus Helberg and his fellow team members (Heroes of Telemark) and Noor Inayat Kahn (also known as Norah Baker, codename Madelaine). They are all truly amazing stories of selfless courage and sacrifice in the name of freedom. Noor is especially interesting to me as a writer, as she was one too! Several of her short stories were broadcast on Paris radio before the war, and after her arrival in England, in 1939 one of her books called Twenty Jakarta Tales was published here, on the eve of war. The book is a collection of fables that are said to pre-date even those of Aesop and hers is a modern re-telling of them. The book is still in print and is published by Pilgrim. Noor became an agent with the SOE and acted as a wireless operator in Paris until her betrayal and capture. Sadly she did not survive the war, suffering a fate common to many of the agents captured. Posthumously, she was awarded the George Cross and croix de guerre, as were a number of other SOE agents, including Violet. Odette survived capture, interrogation and imprisonment in Ravensbruck concentration camp, and her story is again one of immense courage. She was the first woman to be awarded both the George Cross and French Legion of Honour.