As far as I can recall, I have always expressed my feelings in writing. There are people who are born speakers, and manage to express themselves perfectly well with spoken words. I have always preferred to let my feelings take form on a sheet of paper.

My first written stories date back to when I was seven. In those days, my parents were in the process of making me an enthusiastic reader. It wasn't long before I had read all the children's collections available, by famous authors such as Salgari, Jules Verne, etc.

I still maintained this love of reading when I was called up to do my Military Service. As my father was British, I had inherited his British nationality and in 1959 I was called in to ranks. I enlisted in the RAF as a wireless operator and, shortly after, was sent to El Adem in Libya, where I spent over two years in the middle of the desert.

There I found I had time to read every book that was available in the camp library, and I also started to write. After doing a correspondence course, I began to write short stories, publishing various of these, as well as a few articles, in magazines and evening newspapers such as 'Weekend' and 'The Evening News".

I still keep a photocopy of my first pay cheque as a writer.

Not long after, I returned to Spain where I started earning a living as an English teacher. Soon I set up an English academy that flourished to become an educational centre based in a three-storey house with a garden.

In 1987, I wrote a book called 'Tests in English', basically as an aid for our students to sit exams in the Official Language School. I consequently wrote a book for the second level, then the third, fourth and fifth. We went to a book-fair with our little books, (made on the photocopier and put together by hand,) and, strangely enough, they proved to be a success. This encouraged me to carry on writing self-teaching books: bilingual phrases, bilingual translations, compound nouns, didactic crosswords, bilingual business correspondence, grammar books, etc. The list of published titles grew, as did the quality of our books. From black and white, we changed to colour, and from the photocopier to a good printing firm.

This is how Stanley's Publishing Company was born. It has now become a well-known company throughout Spain and South America.

>From a small company with only one author, albeit with over 170 books written by that one author, we went on to publish books by other authors in a variety of languages.

I began to vary writing Spanish and English textbooks with something that had always fascinated me: historical novels.

I had to decide on a character to start with, so I chose the highly unrecognised grand figure of Juan Sebastian Elkano, born in Getaria, few miles from my hometown, Oñati. Without hesitation, I began to investigate in the library of the Koldo Mitxelena Centre, in San Sebastian.

Through these investigations, 'Los Navegantes' (The Navigators), my first novel, saw the light in 1998. In this book, the adventures of Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elkano, who ended up travelling around the world, are explained. The book was published by Stanley.

The following year, I published 'Invasion', this time with the help of the publishing company 'Mundo Conocido', which we set up ourselves, precisely for the publication of this novel. It tells of the Arab invasion of the Iberian peninsular in the year 711 AC. This book was followed by 'El Estratega Cartagines' about the life of Hannibal, and 'La conquista del Amazonas', which describes the life of Francisco de Oreland.

In the year 2001, the publishing company 'Edhasa' got in touch to let us know that they were interested in obtaining the rights for 'Los Navegantes', and adding a second part to it, the story of the conquest of the Philippines by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Andres de Urdaneta with their 'tornaviaje', or 'return journey', word used to describe the route that Urdaneta discovered from the Philippines to Mexico, route that was used by sailboats for over 300 years.

Edhasa published this new novel, now with 827 pages, and it turned out a success.

A year later, once again through the publishing company 'Edhasa', I published the book 'Rumbo a Cipango', on the life of Christopher Columbus. I feel I must point out that this book was very difficult to write, not precisely due to lack of reference material, but due to over-abundance. It was like a type of jigsaw puzzle. I had to chose from here and there, always bearing in mind information given by the most trustworthy historians, (there was a great deal of difference between the details given by them,) therefore the most reliable information, in my opinion, was used. This book was finally completed thanks to Antonio Vicente Marcos, from Irun, who has an impressive collection of books and stamps to do with the famous Admiral, and who lent me over fifty books to provide me with the necessary material for serious research work on the famous navigator from Genoa.

In 2004, 'Edhasa' published 'Malinche', a novel based on the life of Hernan Cortes and his conquest of Mexico.

Also in 2004 Mundo Conocido published the biography of the singer Luis Mariano '.y en Irún nació un príncipe'.

While these books are being published, I continue working on the collection of famous navigators and conquerors.

In 2005 Mundo Conocido published 'Los Viracochas', about the life of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru.

Next will come; 'Los de Chile', on Francisco de Valdivia's conquest of Chile; 'La Rebelion de los Marañones', telling of Lope de Aguirre's rebellion against King Philip II; 'El Mapamundi' a gathering of the voyages made by Juan de la Cosa and the consequent world map he put together during these journeys, map which is currently on show in the Naval Museum of Madrid; 'El Mar del Sur', which is about the life and misfortunes of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa.

The collection will be completed with works on the lives of various historical characters, such as Cabeza de Vaca, Hernando de Soto, Cristobal and Juan de Oñate, Pedro de Alvarado and Bartolome de las Casas, among others.

All the above mentioned novels have in common that they are all historical novels, or, in other words, novelised history. The characters were real and the events that take place have been rigorously verified. However, all the characters are surrounded by an atmosphere of novel and intrigue. The reader can enjoy reading the book and at the same time learn historical facts.

Parallel to this collection, I have started to write another collection on the long struggle to recover the Iberian Peninsular after the Arab invasion, the first being the above mentioned 'Invasion', in which the Muslims are overthrown by Pelayo and Alfonso I in the Battle of Covadonga. For the following 20 years, the Christians forced the Muslims to retreat beyond the 'Duero'. The second book in the collection will be 'Tierra Quemada' (or 'Scorched land'), which tells of events that occurred during the reign of the Asturian king, Fruela I, Carlo Magno, king of the French, and Abderraman I, prince of the Omeyas. All the novels are based on events that took place towards the end of the VIII century, interlocking battles and fights for power with the loves and passion of the characters. During the reign of Abderraman I, the great Mosque of Cordoba was built.

The third book in the collection, 'Roncesvalles', deals with the descendants of Fruela I: Aurelio, Silo, Mauregato (who is still remembered due to the tribute of one hundred maidens that he paid to the Caliph of Cordoba), and Alphonsus II.

This collection could be considered of great interest for those who wish to find out more about the history of Spain during the reign of the Asturian kings. It will be on sale, published by 'Ediciones Apóstrofe' as from 2003.

On a lighter note, there are three novels for fiction-lovers that will soon be published: 'La Esclava Blanca', 'Favelas', and 'Los Emigrantes'. The first about a fifteen year old girl that is kidnapped in her home town of San Sebastian and forced to become a prostitute, five hundred pages that will allow the reader to live a mixture of tense adventures. Drugs, prostitution, and organised crime come together to show the great strength of the main character, that, helped by her sharp mind and the tenacity of her father, manages to make the story have an unexpected ending.

The second is about life in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the struggle of a six-year old boy to survive. An American tramp helps him to find his surprising origins.

The third novel is about a young Cuban and a Nigerian girl that is half Spanish. After an incredible variety of adventures, they end up in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Their romance in the desert is flawed by the crude reality of having to find a means to subsist. They follow the migration route and end up in Spain after a series of misadventures. Five hundred pages full of emotion, tenderness and desperation.

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