His father's army postings sent them all over. At Dumpton, he "read his first Dr Who book (c. 1975), first suffered from hay fever (summer 1977) and first watched Blake’s 7 (January 1978). His parents also got the one interesting posting of his entire life, to Bangladesh. All these were to have effects on his life that still haven’t worn off.." After 12 years in publishing, Jan 2000 layoff started his writing career.