Friday's Guest Ronald Ady Crouch #MFRWauthor #Who He Was #Crime romance

A man of few words when speaking of himself but his books keep me mesmerized. I'm reading them again.

1.      Before becoming a writer I trained as a navigator in the British Merchant Navy, originally working for BP Tankers and other shipping companies aboard oil tankers, bulker carriers, general cargo and container ships. I then became a police officer in England prior to immigrating to Canada and finally became a Canadian police officer.

2.      My first attempt at writing was a children’s story, The Amazing Adventures of Grandpa Ramsbottom – The Flying Machine. When I began writing O’Malley’s Cottage it was supposed to be a children’s story, that was the initial idea anyway. Somehow my mind wandered and it ended up becoming an adult romance/crime novel; definitely not a children’s book! That book got me onto writing crime novels. From there I wrote Murder on Spithandle Lane, followed by my Sam Stephens series: The Weatherman and Officer Down. I still enjoy writing stories for middle readers and wrote a sequel to Grandpa Ramsbottom called, Kidnapped, followed by another children’s book called: Footprints in the Snow. So I guess, these are the two genres I am most comfortable working in. Writing for middle readers is a healthy break from writing adult crime stories. 

3.      Two authors definitely influenced my children’s writing: Kenneth Grahame and his classic, The Wind in the Willows and all those wonderful books written by the late Roald Dahl. A great deal of pleasure reading them to my children at bedtime many years ago. For adult authors: Lee Child and James Lee Burke.

4.      My latest release is a crime novel called, Sunrise. I put every ounce of experience from my previous novels into writing Sunrise. I’m very proud of it.

5.      My current book is a joint venture with Kathy Fischer-Brown called: Where the River Narrows, one of the novels in the Brides series.