I was born Duncan James Dexter McCord in West Cornwall Memorial Hospital, Penzance, Cornwall, in March 1957. Leaving Cornwall behind in the early sixties, my family moved first to Dagenham and from there to Romford, Leytonstone, and Bexleyheath before coming to Cambridge in 1964, where I lived at various addresses until 1993. After spending several months in the Bay Area of California, I returned to Cambridge before moving on to Ely, Cambridgeshire in 1997, where I still live.

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Leaving aside social interactions, my education from eleven onwards involved Soham Grammar School ('per undas per agros'), Soham Village College, Ely Sixth Form College, and the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (now known as ARU). A combination of serious family issues and my poor application to studying torpedoed any thoughts of going to University.  It was at Grammar School that my desire to fill up blank pages with words first started, not least because I was regularly given "lines" by the prefects on our school 'bus. A 'Chapeau' to my English Master Don Riley here who after deciding I was a bit of a dreamer encouraged me, between his legendary bouts of barely controlled rage, to try my hand at story writing.

My career involved, in chronically-logical order, working as a barman at the The Six Bells (our family's pub in the backstreets of Cambridge), Lloyd's Bank Limited (where through day-release I finally got some half-decent qualifications), Pye Unicam/Philips Scientific, Mackay's of Cambridge, and by far the longest, most gratifying and humbling role of my career as a research funding officer in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, where I hope I played a part in helping the most amazingly gifted academics and researchers secure funding for their work.

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On my return from California in 1993, I met my partner Linda and we married in 1998. Amongst her many other qualities, Linda has the ability to see things very clearly and plainly and her observations and suggestions have helped me immensely. We are also blessed with a marvellous daughter, Emily.

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I find fiction writing the most amazing challenge. To me it is a privilege to put words down on paper and one I cherish being able to practice. Since my retirement in March 2023, I have been able to devote more time to my hobby.

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