Robert Carter

I was born in Staffordshire, near Etruria, the place made famous by Josiah Wedgwood, but was brought up in Sydney, Australia and later in Lancashire, England. I studied astrophysics at Newcastle University, where I started the student science fiction society. Writing novels has always played a part in my life, and I've tried to see the world enough to be able to write fiction with the help of personal experience.After university, the US oil industry was booming so I went to Dallas, Texas, later on I worked on rigs in various parts of the Middle East and the war-torn heart of Africa. I was aboard the Ron Tappmeyer, a rig that blew out in the Persian Gulf, killing 19 men. It was dangerous work, but well-paid, and it took me to places that outsiders rarely see, like the Rub-al-Khali of Arabia and hard-to-reach parts of equatorial Africa.

As for my books, I like to write about dramatic and exciting events and I feel I owe it to my readers to have had some sort of first-hand experience. When I wrote Barbarians which is set in 19th century China, I had to go and take a look myself. Travelling in Manchuria in the depths of winter was no picnic. I find it’s essential to visit the places I write about to pick up on the local culture and how people behave, to make things authentic. Talwar is set in Moghul India and I have spent a great deal of time in India, researching locations and getting to know the culture and the people.

These days anyone with the price of a plane ticket can visit anywhere on the planet, but none of us can go to, say, Hampton Court in 1580, or the Manchu Court at Peking in 1860. My books offer readers the chance to time travel to a vanished world. I stick pretty close to real history, but insert characters and sub-plots which are consistent with what really happened. This, of course, means that I have to do a huge amount of research for each book. Fortunately I enjoy research, which helps. The Internet, old books, museums, travel and talking with experts – all ingredients to ensure that what I write is convincing and correct. I tend to write about periods of violent upheaval because that is where the drama is found and when people can be at their best and worst. Courage and betrayal both emerge when emotions are at their highest, and I’m always looking to create a riveting read.