I left school at 16 to become an actor. Alas, a glittering career did not follow. Beaten up by yobbos in Manchester, groped at the BBC TV Centre whilst wearing tights for a Shakespeare production, and left on more cutting room floors than you've had packets of popcorn. Eventually I got fed up with being hungry. To pay the rent I became a humble service clerk in a big corporate utility, acting my way up the greasy pole to become a senior manager. When I wasn’t wearing a corporate suit I wrote short stories for women's magazines and sketches for TV and radio. I also wrote promo video scripts and sometimes appeared in cameo roles. Following redundancy, I set up a management and PR consultancy. Most clients drove me potty, so I jacked that in and became a freelance copywriter. And now I write fiction. When I'm stuffed for words I play the tabla and listen to Berlioz in my shed. And I do Tai Chi, both as Martin Pilcher and Igor Zap, a journey of self-discovery if ever there was.