Coming from a humble beginning I am often surprised how far I have travelled. During the Second World War my father paused long enough from fighting the enemy to visit my mother at least once. It took my father a little longer to finish off winning the war than he expected and I didn’t see him until I was three.

I can still remember his homecoming. Standing on the railway station waiting for the train to arrive carrying him home back to his family my feet hurt. My mother struggled to curb my impatience while my grandmother placidly watched her struggle.

Unlike her mother, my mother was anything but placid. Fierce, proud and determined she thrust her two children into a harsh world with the best upbringing she and my father could afford in the difficult conditions.

Growing up in Perth was a quaint and unique experience. It is the most remote city in the World, more like an overgrown village. My boyhood was a happy mixture of dogs, surf, football and fun with my friends until the inevitable growing up pains bit. And what a bite they had. The bite’s name? Girls!

With girls came stolen kisses in the rain under the shelter of the bike shed and the oh so painful broken heart.

In my late teens, more to please my father than a call to serve God, Queen and the country, I went to military college. It was a thousand miles away from home in an era when only telegrams and letters brought the good news or the sad. It was too much to bear.

After two years I returned to my dog and another broken heart. But you can not keep a good man down. Before long it was women instead of girls, wine, surf and rugby clubs with the more than occasional wild party thrown in. Oh, and of course, work and study.

Surprisingly I graduated as a mechanical engineer and got married pretty much at the same time. These acts of achievement, one way or another, got me to where I am today. Living in Dubai, sailing, working occasionally to make a living, writing and yes, still the odd broken heart. No fool like an old fool.

I hope you like my writing. I do it for fun and to entertain the reader. If you enjoy my book tell your friends.

Barrie Harmsworth