Rex Richards

Hello everyone!

"A rollercoaster read!" BBC Radio

"Meticulously crafted and executed" John Simpson, BBC Global Editor, OBE

I used to be a TV and radio journalist, and spent years interviewing Hollywood stars and making various shows. I gave it up after I'd had enough of celebrity excess and the shallow world of journalism.

These days I try and entertain you with racy and crazy stories!

- Who is going to enjoy your books?

Well, my books are funny, dark, sexy and scary in equal measure. If you enjoy twisted thrillers like Gone Girl, Fight Club, then you're onto a winner. If you like fast-moving satires like Catch 22, and British humour like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett or Monty Python, you could find something to get your toothpegs into too.

Don't expect a straight down the line thriller like Jack Reacher. My books are way more full-on!

The bad guys I write about tend to be a bit like the scary creations of Stephen King, James Patterson and Daphne duMaurier. Maybe Cormac McCarthy is a good parallel too. The bottom line is, these are more than just 'by the numbers' books, they have something delightfully dark and twisted in there too ... wrapped up in a layer of humour.

- Where do you get your ideas?

From everywhere. The New Prophet is my most recent book, and that is inspired by my years working in TV and radio, the miserable attitude of people working in news, and the utter fatuousness of celebrity culture.

- Your first book, Shakespeare's Truth is very different to The New Prophet.

Yes, well the motivation there was seeing the slow decline and death of my father of Alzheimer's disease (dementia) and realizing he had spent years researching Shakespeare and writing a book he would never finish. I wanted his work to count for something. He spent a long time putting together an academic book, I turned it into an adventure novel like the da Vinci Code.

Initially when I wrote it, it was signed by one of the biggest publishers in the UK, but they said it needed an editor to polish it and make it 'professional' before release. I was very dubious, but what do I know about publishing? The editor who they made me use, and also made me pay for, then 'polished' it so much, the publishers subsequently decided it had lost its personality and they didn't want it anymore! And refused to answer my emails asking for advice on next steps.

So, anyway, I've always had an idea in my mind how I'd like the book to be, and last week decided that I would redo it, put it up on Kindle and make it free to anyone who wants it for a while, or for a donation to an Alzheimer's charity.

If you would like a copy, send me an email to rex@rexrichards.com and I will send you a copy when I've done it.

- What's important to you in life?

Human intimacy and honesty. I prize being close and honest with the ones I care about most. For me, being close to someone means being vulnerable and admitting to your mistakes, and being able to forgive people too.