Robert Fisk

I am Robert Fisk. I live in Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand with Elaine, my incredible wife. It is a beautiful place, encompassing a seacoast which is stunning, and a mountainous hinterland. Although we prefer New Zealand, Elaine and I have lived in several countries including the UK, Oman and Brunei.

These are rich soils for plots. I am also inspired by newspaper articles that intrigue me. One such was the genesis for Kill Her; the article was about a cold case murder of a young girl in New Zealand. I used this as the beginning and ending, and a situation from my university teaching for the content. This has become one of my most popular books.

Although I am basically a storyteller, I do a lot of research, a great deal for some titles. I have become quite an expert on England 1800 to1812 through writing the Simpson Trilogy, Star Crossed, Falling Star and The Tontine.

Sit Amygdala Sit also needed much research, especially about the Death March of Sandakan and the working of an adolescent mind. My PhD helped here. I've been to the site of the Sandakan PoW camp; it is a spooky place even now. My father-in-law's stories also helped with life in rural New Zealand in the 1920s and 1930s. Although less than a century ago, life as it was then is being forgotten. The growing-up process is universal and I was pleased with my description of the relationship between the boy and the dog symbolising the struggles of a teen's id and ego.

I pack a lot into the themes in my books. The Pregnant Virgin has racial and social themes as the imagined misuses of IVF procedures are explored. Racial themes appear in The Fern Valley Conspiracy.

I hope this book makes sense to those who don't live in close-knit communities. I won't bang on about themes; I don't set out to write about them, they just grow out of the tale!

Happy Reading and

Best wishes,

Robert