My name is Michael Taylor, and I am a biographer. But I haven’t always been one.

 Leaving school at 16 years old I had not the faintest idea about what to do with my life.

 My only plan was to try a few different things for, say, 40 years or so, and then decide.

 And so I did.

 The only constant in my life was writing – for newspapers, magazines, radio serials and one-act plays. I even wrote restaurant reviews because I just had to write. About anything.

 Then, after a 40-year apprenticeship, I wrote a memoir titled, ‘Number 41 -  40 years, 40 jobs.’

 And I realised that Mark Twain (1835-1910) was spot on when he apparently once said, ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.’

 That was the beginning, and now I write people’s life stories. It is a unique and privileged occupation, but I could not do it without those years of experience which enable me to relate, understand, empathise, and add humour to the darkest of stories.

 During 2023, I will be closing in on one million written words of biography. That is more than two ‘War and Peace’s!