The books of Tim Roux & friends

I was born in an old vicarage in Welton, near Hull, UK, on 24 December 1954, into the middle of a party. My parents were very warm and loving people, and they really enjoyed having parties. Apparently guests circled around my mum's bed with candles and a cake just before, or after, I was born (not sure which).

At seven, I was sent away as a boarder in a private school - a decision (which was most certainly not mine) which I still regret. First I went to a school near Castle Howard (Yorkshire). At thirteen I was sent to a school in Oxford, and then to Cambridge University, London, Reading, the South of France, and now Tervuren in Belgium.

I have never lost touch with Hull (indeed, I am still managing a website which logs all published Hull & East Riding artists past and present - The A63 Revisited - which is an extraordinary experience - there is so much artistic talent in an ex-industrialised Northern fishing port), but while I visit there several times a year, I have never returned in my spirit. I am sort of there and not there - very much in tune with the place, but also very apart.

Living in Belgium as an expat is an entirely different experience - I do not belong to the country in any way, but it is comfortable living here, whereas Hull is suffocating and restricting (so many dos and don'ts).

I trained as a lawyer (I am technically a barrister) but was horrified by the English legal system during the 1970s - so corrupt to its core, especially where the Irish were concerned. So, I went into industry instead, and did business and brand strategy consultancy there for 27 years.

I now write, run a business and brand marketing strategy consultancy (Mud Valley) which provides processes, tools and know-how, and edit and publish other people's books via Night Reading / Publishing.