Broken Rooms follows a gifted mathematician from Sheffield who stumbles into the world of design, beauty, and wealth, and winds up searching for authenticity in a life caught between duty, desire, and dreams. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

It is very much a memoir of my personal journey as an adult. While I am not a mathematician, I was a classically trained pianist with a Doctorate in music. Once I completed my degree and still performing, I had 58 students and I slaved away at an existence that not only drained me, but longing for something that was inside of me. I had always been interested in design and beauty, and it was as though I had yet to break through the ceiling of who I truly am. While I had the highest degree in piano, it was only the beginning of my creative journey. The thread of experiences throughout the novel are all based on what I actually experienced while naturally embellishing on some characters, places and circumstances for the sake of colourful storytelling. But even these I had witnessed and recorded as part of my experience and wove them into the story with delight.

Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?

Yes, the story told from Sebastian’s point of view is very much me. I related to the character for he is sort of a doppelgänger albeit English. Throughout the pages it is really me telling the story of me. 

I find that authors sometimes ask themselves questions and let their characters answer them. Do you think this is true for your characters?

Yes very much so. The questions I have had about clients, colleagues, lovers and myself I answered through all the characters. As though holding up a mirror and looking at it all as the director of the play as opposed to the actors. 

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

Broken Rooms is a novel (yet only covering my life and career as an adult).  My  next book is an actual memoir and titled Remains of Silence : A Memoir of Breaking, Building, and Becoming.  It is a raw and true telling of my childhood and upbringing in Apartheid South-Africa. I shed light on the horrors of our school system, the neglect and abuse at home, and my final departure out into the wide world where I became Sebastian, the main character of Broken Rooms. In Remains of Silence there are no fictitious characters or stories, only an honest telling of what was and how I finally changed the ingrained choreography in order to break free.  The book will be released on September 15, 2025.  Links will be sent to you. 

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