During a book signing at Waterstones in 2016
Philip John Gould, was born during the hot summer of August 1974 in Suffolk, England. From an early age he escaped reality by spending many hours daydreaming and aspiring to be an author. It’s owing to positive feedback on the back of a short story when, aged 13, Phil’s English teach wrote an encouraging phrase at the end of his assignment, that inspired him to persevere with his ambitions deep into adulthood.
In 1990, Phil left school and took a job in shipping, where he worked as an Export clerk for a very abusive manager. He changed careers in 1993, joining a large insurance company, where he undertook a number of positions, including training guide writer, and culminating in a junior manager role which he maintained until he was made redundant in 2003. A day after the announcement of losing his job, he had blood tests in relation to a growth in the side of his neck. A month later he was diagnosed with having Hodgkins Lymphoma.
In 2002, work on The Book of Alternative Records had begun, written with the assistance of Ralf Laue who owned the second largest database of achievement records in the world, behind the Guinness behemoth. Together, the book was compiled and completed in 2003 and published in 2004 by John Blake Publishing. In 2005 a German translation of the book was produced. Phil’s ambition to be published was fulfilled, but his health and personal circumstances thwarted any hopes to pursue an immediate career in writing.
In fact, it wasn’t until 2011 that Phil got the itch to write again. Having been working back in insurance for a while, he decided that he would leave his paid day job early the following year to fulfil two things. One, to spend more time with his family (his wife had given birth to a son in October 2011 and Phil wanted to be more hands-on with his newborn’s upbringing, an opportunity he’d missed with his two daughters), and two, to start working on a new writing project. Actually, an idea for a series of novels had been at the back of his mind for some time, but it wasn’t until September 2012 (after an extended holiday), that Phil finally sat down and started working on what would be The Girl in the Mirror.
In 2015, The Girl in the Mirror was published, followed by books two and three in the series, The Sons of Gyges and The Whisper of Persia in March and November of 2016. In 2018 he followed these with a horror novel, When Flies Strike.
Currently he is writing a fourth book in The Girl in the Mirror series and a new Young Adult action adventure. In addition, he plans a new full length mystery for DI Baylem and DS McCardle, introduced in the novel When Flies Strike, who can also be seen in action within Phil’s short story Of Roses Rapture Lost, which can be read exclusively here.
Still spending too many hours daydreaming, Phil continues to live in Suffolk with his wife, Beth, and three children, Rebecca, Sophie and Matthew.
Phil’s favourite saying:
Quod non me inferficit me corroborat – What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger…
