About Me

I am an author and freelance writer who is mad about architecture.
Much of my life has revolved around architecture. As a teenager I studied construction engineering, after which I specialised myself in the history of architecture and the restoration of old buildings.
After many years of working in the field of building conservation and restoration, my love for architecture and history sparked my desire to live in an old city. In 2004, I moved to York, United Kingdom, an amazing city that still has many medieval houses and a city centre that is surrounded by its original wall.

Working part-time in a delicatessen shop, I wrote my first two books, Romans, Vikings, Churches and Chocolate and From Dissenters to Fire Engines, which are about the history and architecture of this fascinating city.
Realising that a lot of York’s past is still visible in its streetscape and buildings today, I tried to make my readers aware of this in my books. I hoped to spark their imagination by showing that it is still possible to walk through York’s Roman streets and pay a visit to the Viking settlement, even though at first glance it looks as if nothing of those days exists anymore.

I have not lived in York my whole life. I was born in the Netherlands, 42 years ago, but have travelled around the world and seen a lot. Besides living in York, I lived in Australia for two years and in New Zealand for six months. On top of that, I worked on two container ships for six months. The trips on these mighty ships inspired me to write two more books, called Time Zones, Containers and Three Square Meals a Day, and its sequel More Stories of Time Zones and Containers.

So what I am I doing at the moment? I am back in my hometown in the Netherlands doing research for my new book about post-war architecture. To find out more about this book please visit the New Projects page.
The last year I have also been busy translating the Time Zones book into Dutch. This book was published on 18 November 2011.

Next to writing books I also write texts and articles about architectural history and buildings for brochures, newspapers, magazines and websites. With these texts I hope to spark an interest in these two subject by the general public.
If you are looking for someone to write a text, please don’t hesitate to send me an email via the contact page.

For a more personal look into my life as author, please visit my blog scribbles of an author and freelance writer.

For those of you interested in buying my books, please visit the website of FTK Publishing York. (Clicking this link will open a new window.)

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Why not check out My Books, or read Focused on Food, one of the stories in my book More Stories of Time Zones and Containers?