Dan Cotton spent the first fifteen years of his working life travelling the world in the Grey Funnel line (the Royal Navy). He then joined the world of commerce and pretty much carried on travelling as before. In the eighties, he started a business that eventually listed on the Stock Exchange and delisted in 1989 after the crash of 1987. He didn’t make much money, but he learned the hard way, about the underbelly of high-end business operations and decided there were better ways to earn a crust. Twelve years in the IT world kept him going until he decided to do his own thing and start an art gallery with a picture framing service. In the event that he doesn’t make squillions from his writing, he will be still framing, painting and writing until he carks it. * In 2000, he developed the irresistible urge to put fingers to keyboard, and bash out a story that had been in his mind for at least 40 years.