I was born in Weymouth,Dorset, in 1949, and come from a Dorset family that goes back many centuries. I have sold 20 short stories for children and tried my hand at scriptwriting. The American West is of special interest to me, as I grew up watching John Wayne, Randolph Scott and other heroes of the big screen. Over the years, I have collected an extensive library of reference books on the American West. So it seemed only fitting to write a Western novel - which I have authored using the pen name J. D. Smith.