Meet C. A. Powell.

Colin is the author of ten books, all of which have received excellent ratings on Goodreads. The series he's known best for, however, is "The Last Days Of", the first of which was made into a laser stage show by the company Indigo Shiba.

If you have yet to come across Colin's whimsical sense of humour on Twitter, this is a great place to start.

XXX Michael

Me and my dad

I was born in the Bow district of East London back in 1961 and went to school when we moved to Poplar, Limehouse in 1965. I remember being at the old Cyril Jackson Primary school [named after the influential British educationalist on his death] and was told by my grandfather that he went there too, back in the 1920s 

The local Poplar authorities built a new Cyril Jackson school across the road and we children of the infant years were moved across to this new school complex in 1966. It was the very first day of opening. I have very clear memories of all these things and everything seemed like an adventure to me.

We had a great English teacher called Mrs Foster. She took us for a lesson of English every day. At least one or two lessons a week was dedicated to reading a worthy work of literature. I remember we did all sorts of authors including H.G. Wells, John Wyndham, George Orwell and John Steinbeck. We did other great authors too.

I have to mention more of Mrs Foster because I feel sure her classes had an impact on me from a writing perspective. She was a woman of about mid-forties with a class of adolescent boys. I never did see her once get vexed or strict with us. She was crystal clear and very articulate. 

I think I grew up as a typical geeky boy living in a world of British and American comics full of adventure fiction. Some of my school friends enjoyed history and I began to read recommended historical documentary books too. During these coming-of-age years, I remember everything seemed so exciting. I loved all the retro TV programmes of the '60s and '70s. Especially if it was sci-fi or weird. But most of all, many pulp paperback novels were beginning to come into my life. This English teacher, Mrs Foster, had opened my eyes to books and I admired so many authors that could sit down and write such wonderful things.

I read some splendid stories and wished I could write something people would enjoy reading. I read some dreadful stories and appreciated thinking that if this could be published, there might be hope for me one day?

St Mary's Axe

Upon leaving school in 1977, I started work in the city working in reinsurance (providing insurance for other insurers). It was nothing fancy and I was just a sixteen-year-old coding clerk for an Israeli company based in St Mary's Axe, London. The tube journey in and going home was further opportunity for reading. Pulp novel reading was reaching a height. I remembered all sorts of bookshops were becoming haunts for me during the dinner breaks.

In 1979, I applied to join the Post Office. I think it was still called the GPO back then. I got the job and worked at the sorting office of King Edward Building near St Paul’s Cathedral for best part of twenty years. There were all sorts of people in this work environment and much of the characterisation I use is from people observation. Watching friends and colleagues that worked about me. Everything seemed like a shopping mall of à la carte ideas. You could take these observations and reshape such notions for your own needs. I spoke with old employees who had been in the forces during the war. They told me so many comical stories of their experiences. Some sad ones too. The place was an Aladdin’s cave of possibilities.