I was born in Alsace, France, in 1960.

As a young man, I served for the French equivalent of the Peace Corps for two years in the Philippines. Needless to say I fell in love with the country and with South East Asia in general.

The novel grew on me very slowly over the years. Originally it was to be the story of the White Rajah, but as time passed, it developed into that of Thomas Hermann.

(By the way, I recommend reading Tom William's 'The White Rajah' and 'Voyage East' about the 'real' White Rajah, James Brooke. It was actually reading his books which convinced me to publish mine in two parts)

I have been teaching English as a foreign language for thirty years, and when I decided to stop fantasizing about this story and actually start writing it (that was three years ago), I set myself the challenge of writing in English and not in French, to see if I was able to do it. It has a long and arduous process (mostly writing at night, when my day's work was done and my family obligations were fulfilled - I have a wonderful wife and two marvelous chidren). I hope it will pass muster.

I am currently living in Reunion Island, a tiny French territory in the Indian Ocean.