Peter Tong

I suffer from a split personality: I write adventure thrillers and crime fiction - and lightweight satirical comedies. But they have a common link: they are always upbeat. When I write 'serious' stuff it becomes boring or inappropriately funny.

I was born in Blackpool, brought up in Bolton, and live in Skelmersdale, all in Lancashire, England. Reading Treasure Island inspired me to become a writer, plus writing weekly 'compositions' at school, and by reading hundreds of library books. At ten I matured with sci-fi. I got my first commission from a schoolmate to write him a story about a haunted space station. I still wake up sweating from ghostly galactic nightmares. At around 13, I branched out with a couple of surreal comedy stories based on the curious life of a pal's family.

My first adult inspiration came from the theatre, and my first performed play was a Christmas pantomime, Ali the Barber and the 39 Thieves. I have written professionally for most outlets, starting with magazine travel articles after trekking to Australia and back, but fiction is my true calling with plays and serials for radio, scripts for screen and television, and stage plays. I worked in theatre, from set building to writing and producing. I also ran a ghost-writing agency. With little money and less experience, but with an obsessive passion and total belief in myself, I made the comic feature, Gobsmacked!. And what a vertical learning curve that was. But great fun. On advice from America, I'll be writing an inspirational book about how I made the movie, to show that we can all fulfil our desires despite the difficulties by being honest and truthful to oneself.

Currently, I am promoting my novel, Island of Steel, the WWII heroic adventure, which is out as an ebook. A pbook version is in development. I have also adapted a screenplay, which will soon be ready for Hollywood. And a sequel, Beaches of Blood, is moving along nicely in the background. Busy but blissful!