Rough Diamond, Rough Justice follows a former professional photographer turned MI5 surveillance agent who winds up in the diamond trade, where killing is not optional; it is the only way to survive. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Real life experiences was the inspiration. As it says at the beginning of Rough Diamond, Rough Justice: This book is a work of fiction, inspired by several real-life events and real people. Names, characters, incidents, and places are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

There was a lot of time spent crafting the character traits in this novel. What was the most important factor for you to get right in your characters?

Reality was the most important factor. As it says in Rough Diamond, Rough Justice when Cain was talking to his best friend:  

‘We will have to write that book when we retire,’ Cain suggested.

‘All those secrets,’ said Detective Sergeant Jerry Davis (a member of The Royal Protection Team). ‘Perhaps we will.’

          In real life, my best friend unexpectedly died, so I wrote our book alone.

I felt that the action scenes were expertly crafted. I find that this is an area that can be overdone in novels. How did you approach this subject to make sure it flowed evenly?

In real life action can only go so far. Seeing too much in movies, TV series – and having a karate black belt – plus a couple of personal experiences helped me craft the action.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out and what can your fans expect in the next story?

This is my first book. I have written an initial 40,000 words of a sequel about Cain, set in South Africa & England. Will I finish it? Time will tell.

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