Ted Jonsson

Born in 1953, in Chertsey, Surrey, my family moved to the South-East Coast, where my father was a shoe shop manager. My Mother also had to work to ensure we had food on the table as my father was a habitual gambler. A lot of what she actually did is shrouded in mystery even today, but I always considered, as did my school friends, that she was some kind of detective as I got away with little when I was younger. She was also a very religious person.

I joined the Armed Forces in the seventies, at a time of unrest in Northern Island. I spent most of my army career abroad and learnt a great deal about explosives and weapons. I’ve always been one for adventure and enjoyed my time serving. However, leaving the army at a time when any qualifications gained didn’t count in civvy street, I took a job in a shop, delivering washing machines and TV’s and the like. This lasted ten years, enjoying promotion to shop manager, before moving forward into field sales, initially selling for- lift trucks. To get the job, I had to sit an IQ test, which resulted in a score of 137. This boosted my confidence and I excelled in my career on most occasions, with a few minor failures.

A cancer scare made me re-examine my life, about the same time as my mother died of cancer. My father had dementia and died a year later. With the proceeds of their estate, I moved to the South-West coast and started my own business, selling cars and valeting now I was back in good health.

I had written two books by then, neither of which were published as I felt they were not good enough to share. Taking a writing course, and re-taking my GCSE equivalent Maths and English exams, I emerged with a better mind set. It still took awhile to get the discipline required to write a novel in reasonable time, though. By 2015, I had written four books, the Chasing Reality series, fantasy adventures for children and young adults.

It was then that I decided to re-locate and take early retirement, moving to Malta. There, I wrote 1000 Kilos, my first thriller. My next book was for my mom - Barefoot & Alone, a Rose Smith PI mystery set around 1945/46. My mom being the PI. Brexit happened and I returned to the UK, where writing stopped for a while due to work commitments and various moves before settling down in Somerset.

My latest thriller, Emelia’s Shadow is out now. Also, I have just completed and published a spin off from Chasing reality – Laura Stones SEVEN-O.

You can visit me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.