Roger Knowles

Born in 1946, I like to think in terms of being a baby boomer, which I feel sounds so much better than "old age pensioner". Until around age fifty seven, I led a charmed life – fantastic wife, two kids who never gave me a moment’s trouble, good general health, and apart from just one blip, which is fictionalised in ”The Naked Emperor” I had a good and lucrative working life.

Then at around age fifty seven, I got ill. It came on quite slowly, and it took the NHS around two years to come up with a diagnosis of CFS/ME, for which they offered no constructive help. Four years on, I’d found ways to achieve dramatic health improvements and began to take an interest in life again.

Early in 2011, I re-read a novel that I’d had published in 2000, and which had done quite well, thanks to a very good press review. During this re-reading, it struck me that many of its aspects could be improved, so I decided to re-write it. While doing this, I had an idea based on the facts that I had a few other ideas for novels, and that it’s now possible to publish at low cost on Amazon’s Kindle platform.

''Broken Cats & Cowboy Hats''

This is the one an earlier version of which was published conventionally in 2000. It’s a dark crime/thriller, which I hope conveys what I wanted to say. Judging by the comments on Amazon, it looks as though it might have done.

''The Naked Emperor''

I enjoyed writing this – totally fictional, but based on various stages of my own life. It’s light and, I hope, funny.

''To Be A Man''

Romance tends to be very genre specific and must follow a particular pattern. That’s what I was told but didn’t want to accept. So this book breaks all the rules, but I think it works.

''The Association''

I wanted to write a traditional adventure story. This is the end result.

''Day Of Reckoning''

I wrote an earlier version of this around twenty years ago. It was dreadful. Now completely re-written as a prequel to ‘The Naked Emperor’, it’s an hour by hour account of the day in which the hapless hero, Simon, decides that owning a motorcycle business has lost its appeal.

"The Cupboard Under The Stairs"

This is an extremely dark story, suitable only for those over eighteen with strong stomachs.