Hi. I'm Greg Hall and this is my first blog entry. I live in Bath, one of the oldest cities in England, with a history of settlement stretching back even before the city of Aquae Sulis was founded soon after the Roman conquest almost 2000 years ago. Bath owes its name and its original importance to the hot springs which surface here, creating the only thermal spa in the country.

History is one of my interests. My latest novel, Hot Water, draws on this. It's set in Brimswell, a heavily fictionalised version of my home town. It's a murder mystery, but more edgy, blackly comic and satirical than the traditional British 'cosy'. I've published it as a e-book for the Kindle.

I've written four other novels in the past, as you'll see from my author page. These were all print-published by prestigious houses, but are now, unfortunately, mainly out of print, though still available on Amazon.

Writing for a living is a precarious business. Fashions change and publishers are often keener on the new (and young) than the established author. I was very ill with cancer about ten years ago, and it was by no means certain I would recover but I'm tough and don't give up easily, so I lived to tell the tale - very appropriate for a writer. Recovering from that knocked me out of the picture for a bit, as you might imagine.

Getting back to writing was a struggle, but I was pleased that I hadn't lost my touch. I've various projects on hand at present, which I'll share more about in due course. In the meantime, I'd be delighted to have your comments on Hot Water. I'm not afraid of criticism, just glad to be alive to receive it.