About James
I was born and brought up on the borders of East London and Essex. My mother was Welsh, my father from the East End of London. Originally, I trained as a professional actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and worked for several years in the theatre. However, after a serious accident, I retrained as a feline behaviourist and now live in West Wales. Having penned stories from my teenage years, I began writing seriously in 2008 after gaining an MA with Distinction from Trinity Saint David University. I’m currently working on ‘The Glasswater Quintet’, a series of novels; the first in the sequence – ‘On the Edge of Wild Water’, originally published by Wordcatcher – appeared in the summer of 2017. Its sequel, ‘The Glass Citadel’, followed in the autumn of that year. The third instalment – ‘The Stone Forest’ was published in November 2018. In November 2020, the penultimate book in the sequence – ‘Eye of the Rushes’ – was released. The series’ final novel, ‘The Ice Chandelier’, is currently underway. I am also a writer of short stories and poetry (see below) and a dramatist.
The Glasswater Quintet
How do we connect with the life of the spirit in a very material world? We are all, at some level, aware of a world beyond our immediate physical environment. Some people are particularly sensitive to it. In ‘The Glasswater Quintet’ I explore the nature of time, history and a spiritual (not necessarily religious) dimension through the lives of ordinary but passionate individuals who find themselves facing extraordinary circumstances: danger, illness, the criminal world, loss, the threat of emotional breakdown. What happens when other planes of existence break through into daily lives? Can the dead truly influence the living? What is the nature of place, and of haunting?
Wales is a nation rich in literature and mythology. The worlds ‘beyond the veil’ are woven into the DNA of the Welsh. Being rooted in this small but fascinating, beautiful and multi-faceted country gives me, perhaps, an insight into the yearning we all feel – at least at times – to explore and connect with the ‘otherworld’. This is the supernatural in its true sense: that is to say, not a place conjured by imagination, but a plane above and beyond our usual senses, giving us insights and experiences vital to our wellbeing – indeed, to our very existence.
All my protagonists are, however, very much rooted in the physical world. They face the same trials, triumphs, sorrows and joys we all do. I trained originally as an actor at the renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. I like to think that my past life in theatre gives me a powerful sense of the dramatic. In my novels dramatic tension and gripping storylines run alongside the ever-present supernatural in my characters’ lives. The books are immersive, atmospheric and thrilling. This is the world of ‘The Glasswater Quintet’ – welcome!
All titles can be ordered directly from Amazon.
If you would like to subscribe to James’s Newsletter, please use the form below, or at the foot of any page on this site. All subscribers will have free access to two short stories and the first five chapters of ‘On the Edge of Wild Water’, the first book in the Glasswater Quintet series of novels.
Listen to the interview which James gave to celebrate World Poetry Day.
