I am working on a vampire novel, provisionally titled 'Daciana's Revenge', set in the present day in Surrey. It is an 'inversion' of Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', in that the female vampire is hunting the descendants of the 'heroes' of Stoker's novel who killed the Count, Daciana's uncle. The novel draws on Surrey's legends and locations, from Witley Park's underwater ballroom to the Dead River and ends, after a thrilling chase, in a dramatic showdown on Gibbet Hill at the Devil's Punchbowl. Many challenges have to be overcome, not least because each of the main characters is, in their own way, an outsider, if not an outcast. Daciana must learn to negotiate an alien modern world and come to terms with her own internal conflicts and unresolved pain. Her human companions - young journalist Ameena, rebellious artist Lucetta (daughter of Lord Godalming) and Q, bass guitarist in Goth band Alraune - have to find a way to live with the bloodthirsty undead in their midst. Daciana is intelligent and beautiful; charming but imperious; amusing but unpredictable and sometimes frightening. Only her loyal Romanian assistant, Reinfeld, seems to understand her. And what are we to make of the mysterious panther, Carmilla, who stalks the Surrey pinewoods?Ranged against the four of them are the forces of established wealth, power and privilege, not least Lucetta's own father, pompous wealth manager Lord Godalming and his ghastly second wife. Jon Harker is a rapacious and amoral property developer whose chinless wonder son, Nigel, has designs on Lucetta. 'Doctor' Seward runs a fashionable 'mental wellness' clinic, The Knoll, which has a sinister side to it. And then there is the mysterious Professor Van Der Graaf, controversial tech entrepreneur and department head at North Downs University - what is he really up to and what exactly does he want from the vampire who is seeking to destroy him?

Subject interests and knowledge include transport (shipping and railways), travel, tourism, Indian Ocean region.Writing and photography: The Baltic, Caribbean Beat, Dredging & Port Construction, European Railways, Evening Standard, Fairplay, Fedora Magazine, Footloose, Illustrated London News, Jane's Airport Review, Mauritius News, New Nation, Ports & Harbors, Safety at Sea, Soca News, South Western CircularEditing, sub-editing, editorial management: Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Central Dredging Association, Computer Network News in Africa, The Lauritzen Way, Pride; Croom Helm, Crowood Press, Multimedia UK, OPC, Trafton Publishing, VAMP HealthBooks: Via Cobham (Oxford Polytechnic, 1979); Grand Prix Images (with S Small; Hazleton Publishing, 1987); 'Mas, Music and the Media' in On Route: the Art of Carnival (Arts Council of England, 2003)

Extensive writing, editing and photography for this unique magazine and website on the music and culture of the Caribbean. Subjects covered include carnival, soca and calypso music, Caribbean cultural history and development, art, travel, tourism and general news from and about the region, SN was the first UK magazine to review carnival - particularly mas and calypso - as serious artistic disciplines.

Sub-editing and proof-reading IHS Fairplay's monthly professional maritime magazines, ensuring high standards of grammatical and factual accuracy for all copy. Providing support to the editors for the magazines' continuing development and providing support to junior members of staff as required. Creating cross-working connections between the maritime, aviation, energy and defence areas of the wider IHS publishing business. Created a comprehensive house style and writing guide for Fairplay.Reporting, analysis and photography for SAS, P&H, DPC, Fairplay and Jane's Airport Review, specialising in the Indian Ocean region, piracy and human factors issues.

Editing and page design of technical books on engineering, construction, health and safety, water and environment. Developing house style, progress chasing, liaising with authors, project managers, research contractors, designers and printers.

Sub-editing Jane's International Defense Review, Jane's Airport Review, Jane's Navy International and Jane's Defence Upgrades.

Sub-editing, fact-checking/research, proof-reading high-end consumer magazines Illustrated London News, Orient-Express Magazine, Eastern & Oriental Magazine and Prestige; onboard magazines Blue Riband and Connections; and Ntural World

Copy-editing, proof-reading, progress-chasing, and liaison with editors, journalists, freelancers, designers, printers etc for aviation weekly Flight International.

Copy-editing, proof-reading, overseeing print quality and schedules and creating house style guide and market research questionnaire for publisher of motorsport books and annuals.

Managing schedules and quality of 60 academic books a year and maintaining overall editorial and production control of 50 reprints a year.

Design, paste-up, CRC correction, copy-editing, proof-reading and research for illustrated books on railways. Compiled hardback Railway Enthusiast's Diary annually.