Christopher Hilton is a Lancashire lad who spent some of his early years in Africa, enjoying life as a bare footed, unwitting expatriate. At aged eleven, when schooling there stopped, he was packed off as a boarder to Scarisbrick Hall School, in Lancashire, which was his inspiration for Scarbeck City in the second book. It was at this school where his Christian faith journey began. He was fascinated by Jesus’ teaching, noting early on that deep concepts could be conveyed through stories (parables). He often wrote short stories and poetry but, on leaving school, changed direction. He has worked as a self-employed Chartered Building Surveyor for all of his working life. He always intended to write ‘one day’. He would begin unfinished novels, and more short stories, including short children’s plays such as ‘Stardate Zero’, an alternative Halloween production, performed at the local Arts Centre. Writing ‘Running the Wheel’, he claims, could have only been divinely inspired, as he was mystified, but excited, to find out how the plot would unravel until towards the end. He believes the writing was prompted after his three-year-old grandson began chemotherapy for leukaemia, and the difficult years leading to his being discharged from Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in 2021. It is a fantasy novel based on how he views the world now, and his dismay at complacency. He then wrote the prequel, ‘Septimus Fairfax’, and the sequel, ‘The Gates of Hades’, forming a trilogy. Christopher lives in the North West of England, with his wonderful wife of forty-two years, Jackie, one of their two daughters, her husband and their two sons. He regularly sees his other daughter, her partner and their daughter, who live abroad. Christopher enjoys reading, especially authors Patrick O’Brian, Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell, writing, visiting good pubs, meals with friends and walking his two Cocker Spaniels. He also enjoys the CTC fitness gym run by his son-in-law.
