I was never one of these people who was born to be a writer, as I convinced myself that writing didn't come naturally to me. Then suddenly (well, not actually suddenly – 50 years later), I had a chance to write a friend’s memoir and thought I would give it a go. WOW, who knew at 65 years of age, I was a writer. I found it one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done!

I think my lack of writing experience initially made it hard to find my groove. Nevertheless, I persisted with the writing, and to my surprise, I had written most of my first book’s 80,000 words in about eight weeks. It then took me several months to get it just as I wanted.

My book, ROSCO The Fastest Aussie on Earth, is about my friend Rosco McGlashan OAM. Rosco is a drag racing champion and holds the Australian land speed record. He is colourful character and has led an incredible life, which didn't start too well, ending up in prison and solitary at 17 years of age. However he didn't let this define his remarkable story.

I have been working with him to build the world’s fastest car, Aussie Invader 5R, in which Rosco hopes to break the world land speed record and achieve a 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h). I didn’t mention I was a petrol-head also, having started building hot rods and motorcycles at 15.

The land speed car build is a labour of love. I have worked on the Aussie Invader project for 15 years with Rosco and some of the world’s best mechanics, engineers and rocket scientists, who all give their time and expertise for free.