The first draft of Valentino's Redress, was actually completed over the course of one weekend and given that it was a respectable 100,000 words long, I decided that it would be best served as a Screenplay, rather than a novel. Before long, I submitted it to the BBC as a TV drama. With hindsight, I got too far ahead of myself and they were right to reject it. But since then, I have expanded and polished its narrative beyond recognition. Today, I'm glad the BBC turned it down; their editors might have made a complete hash of it otherwise. Mind you, who's to say what might happen in the future.... In the aftermath of the BBC submission, I transformed the screenplay into a novel and have been polishing it ever since – with time off for good behaviour of course. It's not just romantic, it's funny, and insightful of man's ingenuity. Am I a complete narcissist to own that I love this work of mine? The inspiration for VR, came from my experiences working in Call Centres. At the turn of the Century, I took on the role of a Team Manager at a new Call Centre in Greenock, On this occasion it was for T Mobile (now EE). Before that, I worked as a Key Account Manager for Compaq (now HP), and Microsoft. Such environments - as well as afterwork functions, were a gold mine for witnessing "fascinating" and hilarious spectacles, some of which actually made it into my manuscript. It also introduced me to some amazing characters and yes, they too made it on to the pages of my manuscript. I thank them all - even my wife Christina. She was the inspiration behind Sofia's character. Oscar, like Qwon in The Treasures of Drumory, or JJ in The Fidelity Saga, represents the type of character I longed to be growing up – well we can all dream can't we? Can't we? Valentino's Redress, will speak to all true romantics, particularly young adults as they are about to set out on their exciting, arduous and often perilous quest for love, family and fulfilment. I hope it makes you laugh heartily as well as providing you with food for thought when it comes to the business of love and relationships.