Author Bio: Then. I grew up in a small mining town in Yorkshire, England where entertainment was relatively thin on the ground. At least it was for a cerebral young fantasist like me. As a result I would dissolve myself in books and comics from a very early age. Some of my fondest memories involve 2000AD or even Marvel or DC stuff. I was given several Roald Dahl books by loving family members and I still cherish them even now. I remember some of my attempts at writing around this time and I’m suddenly glad a standard keyboard doesn’t have a cringe button! Yes they were that bad. I had the enthusiasm back then, but not the life experience that was to spice my later attempts. I found that my earliest stuff was interesting, but it sounded like everything else. It would take another thirty years for me to find my voice and style. I would like to be able to give some credit to my former school and educators, but I won’t. Now. Three decades later and I’m sitting here overjoyed. I must look over at my bookshelf around fifty times a day and look proudly at my first published book. CrossOver sits up there next to some real aristocracy within the fantasy writers world, that I can only hope to emulate. But I use the word emulate with some trepidation. I couldn’t hope to match many of them, but if I can just look at Crossover standing there next to them in a bookstore somewhere, then that’s genuinely enough for me. I’ve seen some hardship since my younger days too. Sometimes lack of money, sometimes not. Sometimes lack of hope, sometimes not. I’m still standing though, shaky, but defiant. I live in Cheltenham now with the most wonderful person in the world. If it wasn’t for her I’m not sure what state I’d be in. Later. CrossOver is out there and I’ve spilt first blood. It’s only been a few months and I’m still struggling with the emotions of it all. As a debut novel it reminds me every day that I can do this, now and forever. I cracked straight on with the sequel, CrossBack, and things are going swimmingly. I love spending time with the characters and the story just seems to be spilling out all over the place. My idea book is filling up too. When the CrossOver trilogy is firmly tucked into bed, I have tons to think about. Am I going post-apocalyptic of steam-punk? Epic Sci-fi is elbowing its way in too. There are also some fascinating characters that take up much of my day-dreaming time too. Who knows how that will play out? Stay with me and keep the faith. It only gets better from here. Paul Proffet
