Who doesn’t like a good chase out of San Francisco? What better place to stage tom-foolery on wheels?  Well-traveled John Bird chose to set his fast-paced comedy thriller Aristocrat at Large in California in the Fifties because he lived and worked in San Jose in the Sixties.

In John’s words

Some of the episodes in the book, both in California and other western states, are loosely based on experiences I had whilst in the States. I feel the use of locations like as San Francisco and the Napa Valley added greatly to the interest and texture of the story.

I did a little research for the novel, mainly on the Internet, to refresh my memory of the locations I used and especially the changes in the highway network.

A centre piece of the story is a car chase from San Francisco to Sun Valley, Idaho, and the route provided a rich variety of locations for the twists and turns of the plot.

I have enjoyed several books over the years with California settings, notably the novels of John Steinbeck and Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.

About Aristocrat at Large

Matt Sheridan, a naive young English journalist, goes to California on a madcap mission sponsored by drinking pals at his local pub and, posing as a lord, becomes involved in a series of escapades, in turn comic, romantic and dangerous. When he runs afoul of a ruthless business tycoon it becomes questionable whether he will live to complete his mission.

The novel’s cover illustration is drawn by one of Britain’s best known cartoonists, the multi-award winning cartoonist of the Daily Mail, Mac (Stan McMurtry).

About John

John has been a journalist, PR man and university lecturer, living and working in the United States, Canada, Cyprus and the United Kingdom, where he currently based. His published and broadcast work includes two novels, short fiction, plays, poetry, television comedy material, and non-fiction books on subjects as diverse as new careers for the over-40s and Britain’s treatment of enemy alien civilians in wartime. His academic background includes a PhD in History from the London School of Economics.

Contact John through his website: www.johncbird.co.uk