Wallace E Briggs (1943 – present). Happily married to Pat, who I first met at the age of eleven. We celebrated our Diamond Anniversary in Sept 2024. 
My formative years were experienced in and around Durham never living more than 5ml distance from the Cathedral City. Married in 1964, Pat and I spent many happy years in the North East of England before employment almost took us off to emigrate to Jo'berg, South Africa. But plans were changed in the final weeks and instead the company moved our family to Sussex. 
After more than twenty years in Sussex, then Hampshire, employment was again responsible for the move to beautiful rural Lancashire, where we still reside. I am now retired from a long career in sales and marketing of technical products in the UK and international markets.
My first Jimmy Crikey story was born one rainy day during a family holiday in Great Yarmouth, in 1975, to entertain my son and his new-found friends for an hour or so, during a heavy shower. The story expanded over the following damp afternoons in the cramped confines of a beach tent, and more and more adventures were required to keep the children entertained.

Twenty years would pass before the first Jimmy Crikey story appeared in print on Amazon.

During the writing of the 5th Jimmy Crikey adventure, ‘Jade the Youngest Ever Witch’, I had an ‘out of body’ experience. Jade spoke to me and admonished me for not continuing to write her story. I promised her I would write more about her story, and a short while later I entered a national competition to write a one hundred word story. The basis of that story was an inner voice, directing my actions. The story did not figure in the contest results but the kernel of ‘On the Edge’ was born, to be later developed into my psychological crime thriller: my first story aimed at an adult market. It turned out to be a finalist in the 2025 PageTurner Book Awards winning a GOLD MEDAL, and has attracted 190+ Goodreads four to five star reviews.