John’s new crime fiction book For Queen and Contraband has just been republished by Olympia Publishing of London it is receiving fantastic reviews and it is now available to buy online at WHSmith, Waterstones, Amazon and all good book stores. If you like crime fiction please check it out. You won’t be disappointed it’s a page turner that you won’t be able to put down!
John has been lucky enough to have lived a very interesting and varied life and to have travelled the world while doing so.
He spent a few years in the Royal Air Force himself, so he knows the details in his first crime fiction title 'For Queen and Contraband' are authentic. He has now completed his second crime fiction title 'A Currency To Die For' and hopes to have that published soon.
John now lives quietly with his partner Sarah on the Wirral in Merseyside or 'The Dark Side' of the Mersey river as his Liverpool family and friends call it.
He was born in Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in the centre of Liverpool in 1959; he is the eldest boy of five children to parents Rene and Bob Peterson and his mother Rene was an inspirational and extraordinary woman. She left Liverpool to live in South America for eight years when she was a young woman and while living in South America she learnt to speak and write fluent Spanish. On her return to Liverpool, she ran several small business enterprises to help provide for her growing family.
John's father Bob was a Liverpool docker who was hard-working but would often be on strike.
It was during one of those strikes that John's family and lots of other struggling Liverpool dock worker families were given financial aid by Russian dock workers; they sent the Liverpool dock workers and their family's financial aid out of the little money that they earned themselves.
This is not a widely known fact and as a young man this act of kindness surprised John as he was taught that Russians were the enemies of the UK and western countries. This act of kindness and solidarity by the Russian dock workers to the Liverpool dock workers showed John that there are good and bad people living in all countries throughout the world.
While at school, John developed a love of the English language and an interest in the written word, he always knew that he would write at some stage in his life.
On leaving school John worked for a major construction company Tysons Building Contractors as an apprentice Plant Mechanic and helped to build (single-handed if you listen to John) the Liverpool Law Courts and The Liverpool Post and Echo Building affectionately known by the people of Liverpool as 'The Sand Castle'.
John served in the R.A.F. as a ground support mechanic where he got most of the ideas to write 'For Queen and Contraband'.
In his younger days John was a bit of an adrenaline junky and did things such as parachuting, scuba diving and light aircraft flying. He did most of the flying whilst in the R.A.F. taken as spare flights when university students thinking of joining the R.A.F. didn't turn up for their flying lessons.
He recently was allowed to take the controls of his friend's light aircraft while flying around Loch Etive as a birthday treat when John turned sixty. This was the same friend who lives in Oban, Scotland and who John based the character of the pilot in 'For Queen and Contraband' and who still lives near Oban in Scotland.
John still likes to do the occasional scuba dive when on holiday but now he is older he has more sedentary pursuits like walking and drinking wine.
John always harboured a desire to write and has had some short stories published in the past, but like most people didn't have the time or get around to writing books as 'life got in the way' as he would describe it.
John found writing 'For Queen and Contraband' was a very enjoyable and therapeutic experience and he has recently completed his second book 'A Currency To Die For ' another crime fiction title set in the exciting world of money production which he hopes will be published very soon.
John is currently learning about the brave new world of blogging and hopes to have his own blog up and running soon to update anyone who is interested in further information about his writing.
He asks that you please bare with him as this could take some time. He is a man who's only knowledge of computers as a kid was 'Ernie' the premium bond computer. Older readers will remember him!
