Stephen F. Clegg

I never intended becoming a published author...

Being an avid story-teller to my children and grandchildren I decided, not long after retiring, to write down the true events of my great, great aunt Maria, and her struggle to reclaim an estate that once belonged to our family in 1750. But the piece was so dry,and so boring, that I decided to enhance it with a few good old-fashioned villains, a vicious dog, and all manner of things that I could conjure up. The end result was a 100,000 word manuscript written for any descendants who wanted to read it.

In 2012, following lots of encouragement from family and friends, 'Maria's Papers' was published. Since then, I have written a further five novels; I have been nominated for three book prizes, and I became a Finalist in the People's Book Prize 2013/14 for my second novel 'The Matthew Chance Legacy'.

My latest, 'The Monkshead Conspiracy' was released at the end of 2019, and is beginning to generate some enthusiastic reviews too.

Isn't it amazing how events can change your life? I recently read that 'One minute can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world' and for me, the minute that I decided to put pen to paper, it did change my world. My books can now be ordered in any British library and are being read in countries all around the world!

And who says that life is over when you retire? It's not for me sitting back and watching the television and letting the world pass me by, my mind is too active. I love the challenge of writing, conjuring up new ideas, of research, and learning new skills, and most of all? Having fun doing it!

Thank you for taking the time to read this.