My formative writing begins in Year 3 at school when our teacher, Margaret Wakefield, teaches and encourages us to write poetry. My first publication is in the Coomandook Area School school magazine in 1963, and I ensure I have something published in every subsequent year book. My first book is an illustrated story titled Squadron 306, a Battle of Britain Spitfire tale in Year 5. I also begin a comic book series in Year 8 - hand-drawn and written and shared around the school, with jokes and sketches in the style of Mad magazine (I was an avid fan and collector of Mad). I write song lyrics as I fumble my way through learning guitar. I am an avid reader.

Into university years (1973-1977), I write several hundred poems and song lyrics on a wide variety of topics, especially exploring the Liverpool and Beat poetry styles. I submit work and fill the back of my study door with rejections, but one very brief poem ends up in a 1977 FAW/BHP anthology, Neon Signs to the Mutes.

Inspired by Max Harris and Peter McFarlane, as an English teacher I encourage students to write poetry and frequently do live writings in class to demonstrate techniques, but my dreams of becoming a John Keats or Bruce Dawe rapidly evaporate as teaching consumes my life.

My first attempt at a novel is a teenage coming-of-age piece based on kids in Whyalla. Hand-written in pencil into an exercise book, the attempt dribbles out to 45,000 words and quietly disappears into a desk drawer (I suspect it is still in one somewhere around our home). I shelve writing as an activity. Instead, I learn how to design and deliver original Dungeons and Dragons games for several role-play groups (1981-1996), and they become my creative outlet.

In 1987 I begin drafting a fantasy tale, based on the scenarios and Non-Playing Characters from the games I designed. I have no idea where the tale will head other than, after a few weeks, I have ten typed chapters (think typewriter, not computer) and the fledgling outline of a character named Andra. I stop writing poems.

Coincidentally, in 1989 I confess to an acquaintance, Graham Phillips (who, as it turns out, distributed books for Pan MacMillan), that I am writing a fantasy novel and he gives me the contact details for Roxarne Burns and encourages me to send her a synopsis and a sample chapter. I do. And nothing happens. So, I assume the publishing company has a giggle and bins my proposal. After all, I am nobody asking to open a door into a niche publication that is dominated in Australia by overseas writers like Raymond Feist, David Eddings, Janny Wurts and Anne McCaffery.

March, 1990 is a month etched into my personal history.

​On March 9th, a Sunday, the Royal Adelaide Hospital rings to tell me that my father died suddenly from a massive heart attack. As the only child, I  ring my mother, who is home on the farm, to tell her the news. Then there is the trip in to identify Dad, and organising the funeral for the coming weekend. On March 11th, a Tuesday, I receive a letter from Roxarne Burns at Pan MacMillan saying they will commission me to write a fantasy trilogy based on the material I shared almost six months previously. To say that week becomes an emotional roller-coaster is to understate it profoundly. I loved my father and sometimes I still feel I never fully grieved for him because in the same week the best and worst events coincide.

​Pan MacMillan offers me a contract and an advance. In return, I am to write three fantasy novels. I sign. I panic. I have ten rough chapters and an idea for a bigger picture. And a typewriter. And a deadline for the first manuscript. I negotiate buying a Mac SE from the school for $4000 (the amount of the Pan MacMillan advance) to resolve the typewriter issue (typing, correcting, retyping etc). And I write Andra's tale as a young Guardian warrior about to face the rise of the Dragonlords. And it isn't going to fill a novel - until A Ahmud Ki, a whole new character, appears. The novel morphs into something much better than a single character tale. I meet the deadline for manuscript one. The original opening chapter becomes the thirteenth chapter. The novel morphs again. And the second novel manuscript starts.

1992-1993: Guardians, Kingmaker, Dragonlords - Andrakis, a fantasy trilogy of novels, are published by Pan MacMillan Australia

Guardians: Andrakis Book One hits the shelves in July 1992, followed by Kingmaker in October 1992 and Dragonlords in 1993. Guardians has a successful opening, moving into top ten lists around Australia, nesting among the same great fantasy writers I revered. TV, radio and newspaper interviews follow.  Pan MacMillan had launched its new Australian fantasy writer stable with Martin Middleton and his Chronicles of Custodians series in 1990, and I am now lucky enough to be part of that project. In 1993, on leave from the Education Department for six months, I complete and submit a new fantasy manuscript to Pan MacMillan.

1995: The Last Wizard, a fantasy coming-of-age novel, is published by Pan MacMillan Australia. 

​The Last Wizard is shortlisted in the inaugural Aurealis Awards: Best Fantasy Novel 1995.

​1996-1998: short stories and scripts appear in Penguin - Dreamweavers (ed Paul Collins), HarperCollins - Fantastic Worlds (ed Paul Collins), AATE - The Girl Who Married a Fly (ed Michael Hyde) and Oxford Uni Press - Solo Spots (ed Ruth Starke and Chris Tugwell) anthologies, and short stories appear in Altair and Harbinger magazines.

In 1997, the professional writing comes crashing down due to dramatic changes in my personal life and publication changes at Pan MacMIllan, and my writing career is over as quickly as it started.

1998 is a watershed year.

It begins with a teenage novel draft that I started in 1993, inspired by the stealing of a metropolitan bus by two youths, being initially optioned and then rejected by Random House, and then taken up by Michael Bollen at Wakefield Press. 

1999: Joy Ride, a young adult/teenage novel, is published by Wakefield Press.

Peter MacNamara introduces me to Robert Stephenson and when we discuss how I might get back into the fantasy market, especially as I have a new project I am keen to sell it, Robert offers to be an agent. And that's what he becomes. Robert also launches his own speculative fiction magazine, Altair and he publishes several of my short stories.

1999-2000: fantasy short stories published in issues of Altair magazine

Robert Stephenson takes the Ashuak Chronicles concept to HarperCollins UK, but when they reject the project he approaches HarperCollins Australia with my proposal for a new fantasy series in 2000 and succeeds in negotiating a deal for three books.

​2002-2003: Blood, Passion, Freedom - The Ashuak Chronicles, a fantasy trilogy of novels are published by HarperCollins Australia Voyager.

Blood is shortlisted in the Aurealis Awards: Best Fantasy Novel 2002.

In 1999, I begin drafting a teenage novel loosely based on my experiences growing up in the Malinong/Coomandook country district. The story is partly prompted by a news report of a marijuana plantation discovered in the local mallee area. Robert offers the manuscript to HarperCollins Angus and Robertson imprint.

2003: Caught in the Headlights, a teenage novel, is published by HarperCollins Australia Angus and Robertson.

Caught in the Headlights is listed as a Notable Book for Older Readers in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards in 2003. It also subsequently appears in several Premier's Reading Challenges.

Robert Stephenson moves into Print-on-demand publishing as Altair Australia. He  republishes the original but out-of-print Andrakis series with their original titles and an anthology of my fantasy stories.

2006: The Waking Dragon, Maker of Kings, Dragonlord War - Andrakis trilogy republished by Altair Australia

2006: Tales of the Dragon, a fantasy story anthology, is published by Altair Australia

Robert Stephenson also negotiates a deal with HarperCollins Australia for my new fantasy series of four novels with an Australian flora and fauna flavour.

2008-2010: The Amber Legacy, A Solitary Journey, Prisoner of Fate, The Demon Horsemen - Dreaming in Amber, a four book fantasy series, is published by HarperCollins Australia Voyager. 

A career change into IT in 2010 forces my hand insofar as time to dedicate to writing because I am effectively stepping out of classroom teaching into a different role entirely and that means I have a lot to learn. I shelve multiple concepts for new fantasy series, even several partly written starts and chapters, because I am unable to finish anything. At the same time, a revolution is underway in the publishing world with digital self-publishing, and people I know in publishing companies who are my most reliable connections in the industry are leaving or swapping companies, or retiring.

I work on two teenage novels, one focused on a youth coming to terms with his father's bisexuality and a murder mystery associated with his family; the other about boys' obsession with cars. I am also keen to learn how digital self-publishing worked, so I dabble with CreateSpace and Amazon Kindle Publishing, eventually using the platform to republish out-of-print works from the past: the Andrakis trilogy and the Ashuak Chronicles. I try to get interest in the teenage novels from publishers with no success. In the end, I publish both teenage books on Amazon.

2015: In My Father's Shadow, a young adult/teenage novel is self-published on Amazon Kindle

2016: The Need, a teenage novel is self-published on Amazon Kindle

I also amassed several short stories over the years covering a range of genre from fantasy through science fiction, murder/mystery, horror to an Australian yarn in the style of Henry Lawson, A couple are published in 2016 and 2019, but most languish on my computer because I do not have the time to market them. Having learned a little - maybe a dangerous too little - about the Amazon Kindle process, I clean up and collect the stories into an Australian-themed anthology.

​2016: The Red Heart, a story anthology is self-published on Amazon Kindle

In 2017, I draft an apocalyptic story in diary format based around a virus spreading world-wide and opening the doors to ISUS-style insurgents to invade Australia; a virus that mutates and creates zombies to sustain the virus. I finish the first draft in 2019 - and cue the Corona Virus pandemic! The project screams to a halt in the face of overwhelmingly amazing real life research opportunities.

I plan for a career change in 2019 that might involve full-time writing. I have several projects either underway, but incomplete, or at least sketched out and ready to write. I just need time to get the work done.

Sadly, in 2019, my long-time friend and literary agent, Robert N Stephenson, with whom I was planning to begin a new phase, commits suicide. It feels like every door to the writing industry via traditional means fully close. I reconsider my options. It is already ten years since I had a publishing contract and I have 'vanished' from Australian writing on every level.

There is nothing as motivationally terrifying as quitting so-called 'gainful employment' and a solid fortnightly income while knowing that you will have no source of income other than what you can generate through writing. This is how 2023 begins.

The first process involves retrieving the rights to all previously published work. Most contracts have long ended, but I check in with HarperCollins regarding the Dreaming in Amber novels. Rights are reverted.

Then I begin seeking a new agent for my work because I'd like to publish traditionally, and I naively believe my track record and experience will be valuable. I make a total of fourteen enquiries for fourteen negatives. No interest at all from Australian options. I am told by two sources that I am the wrong kind of writer for current trends in mainstream publishing and that my low volume sales record is no longer enough to warrant interest from publishers. Okay. Reality hits.

But because I still receive occasional enquiries as to how my out-of-print books can be found, I decide I need to respond to the requests. I begin learning how to use the Amazon KDP system again. If nothing else, I can bring my older work back into existence. I learn how to set up manuscripts for self-publication. With Art as a past subject and skill, having learned how to use Photoshop well enough to design book covers and applying AI, I  craft new covers for the older novels.

2023-4: I republish the original Andrakis trilogy, Ashuak Chronicles and Dreaming in Amber series on KDP.

I also participate in two years of NaNoWriMo, drafting a new novel in each session.

Richard Miles discusses a project passion with me of his around the history of the SA Police Mounted Cadre and we collaborate to develop his research and collected stories into a manuscript that attracts funding from the SA Police Historical Society and the History Trust of SA. I conceive creating a niche and tiny publishing house and Millswood Books becomes a registered business and the publishing front for my works and for writing services.

I continue working on drafts and manuscripts of multiple projects throughout 2023-24 and complete the project based on my mother's life from ages 13-22.

I also collate poetry I've written from teenage years through to the turn of the century into an anthology. I've kept most of the original pieces, although some have been lost along the way and others are simply not up to scratch. Time to put the past poetry out in the world for better or worse. Otherwise it may as well never have existed.

2024: Rearview Mirror, a poetry anthology, is published via KDP.

Late in 2024, I begin mentoring writers in the NDIS scheme on behalf of Spectrum Writing, a company formed by a friend and fellow writer Jason Fischer. I continue drafting and finalising the manuscripts for four fantasy novels  that will form The Last Wizard Saga.

With no traditional publishing avenue likely, and as a potential business operative, Millswood Books is launched as a place to self-publish and sell my books, as a publishing help for other writers who want to publish low volume projects, and as a writing service offering mentoring, editing etc.

2024: Girlie, the novelised tale of my mother's early life, is published by Millswood Books on KDP in hardback, paperback and ebook formats.

2025: Mounted: the collected stories of the SA Police Cadre from 1951-1999 by Richard Douglas Miles, is published by Millswood Books in hardback and ebook.

With post-pandemic hindsight, I return to the apocalyptic scifi draft based around a world-wide Ebola outbreak and terrorist groups taking advantage of the chaos and rework the manuscript until I feel I have the novel in reasonable first person diary format.

2025: All We Have, a speculative scifi novel, is published by Millswood Books and is available in paperback and ebook.

All We Have is shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards Best Science Fiction Novel 2025.

2025: Tales of the Dragon and The Red Heart short story anthologies are revised, stories added, and published by Millswood Books.

I also complete the drafting and editing of The Last Wizard novels and prepare them for publication. Again, I seek agent interest and even try three publishers directly, but no one wants to buy in. So it's back to Millswood Books.

2025-2026: Tamesan, Chasse, Jaysin, Harmi - The Last Wizard Saga, a quartet of fantasy novels, are published by Millswood Books in hardback, paperback and ebook formats.

I then return to the drafts created in the NaNoWriMo events and steadily expand and edit them.

2026: Mika, a speculative scifi novel, is published by Millswood Books.

to be continued...