Paul Samael worked undercover for the CIA to infiltrate a gang of Colombian drug smugglers and drive a stake through the heart of their leader (who was a vampire), whilst thwarting a Pentagon-inspired plan to do sinister things with mind-controlling drugs (unfortunately his recall of events from this point on is hazy). On his release from hospital, he suddenly realised that all he had ever wanted to do was write literary fiction - so here he is on bookiejar.com.

Re-reading this, it occurs to me that it may have been a mistake to write my biography shortly after receiving a bad review of the opening chapters of my novel from a self-described "action junkie", who lamented the lack of car chases, explosions, scenes of torture etc (I should point out that I had categorised my work as 'literary fiction', not a genre widely recognised for its edge-of-the-seat action sequences).

The truth, as always, is much more mundane - I work in an office, am married with 2 children and have published 2 non-fiction books. I like books that explore ideas as well as characters (but not at the expense of a good story) - and that's my main aim with my own material. To find out more about my non-adventures in self-publishing, see www.paulsamael.com