January 03, 2007
Autobiographical ramblings
I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1956. We were poor but it was happy childhood. My parents were both Scottish and so, it seemed, was I. I left Scotland to live in England when I was about fifteen. And since then I've felt a little less Scottish than before. The Scots don't like the English very much which is a bit sad as the English have nothing against the Scots. My wife is English. Very. She's descended from the fifth wife of Henry VIII. My children are half English, of course. So it bugs me when Scots start with the anti-English thing. To my mind the Scots have been a usefully calming influence on the naturally volatile Scots. Tha's my story.
My mother was a Brodie. The Brodies are one of the oldest clans in Scotland. They are Picts. They lived on the north side of the Roman wall built to keep the Scots out of Roman territory. The Picts are a dark swarthy lot. True Scots. Not like the red-haired freckled Jonny come lately Scots who are descended from Vikings. Alexander Brodie was King of Scotland in about 500 AD. I say all this because when I was at school, I used to get a bit of racism thrown my way because I was dark skinned. This might strike you all as incredible but I know what it is to be called the N word. But that's the Scots for you. A funny lot.
We were a religious family. My family were Baptists. Often we went to church three times on a Sunday. Morning service, sunday school in the afternoon, and then evening service. On Sundays we lived in the place. A lot of the people who went to that church are still my friends. They have good hearts. But I no longer believe what they believe.
When I left school I read Law at university. Twice. I did a postgraduate degree in Jurisprudence. Which is Philosophy of Law.Then I became a copywriter in an ad agency. I wasn't much good at it. I spent a lot of time staring out of my office window or simply writing novels.
I got my first book published in 1989, by which time I was 33 years old. Given that I had started writing when I was about ten, this only goes to show that I wrote stories and books pretty solidly for twenty three years with no success at all. Never made a penny. I always say that these days I get paid to do my hobby. Which is true happiness, let me tell you.
Today I live in Wimbledon. I have three children. I play the piano and the guitar. Take lots of photographs of almost anything, and have two motorbikes. I got to Cornwall a lot. I also write thrillers and detective stories for adults as Philip Kerr. Check 'em out on Amazon.com when you're a bit older.
Posted by pbkerr at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2005
Edinburgh
The Author's Birthplace, in Edinburgh.
Posted by pbkerr at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)