About the Author

Ken Spargo – The accidental author

Ken lives in Melbourne, Australia. As a Sagittarian, according to his stars, Ken is capable of deep thought and has an inherent curious nature.

His first venture into writing began on a sewerage farm whilst engaged in an aquaculture project in 2002. On a boring Friday afternoon, Ken’s imagination got the better of him and he decided to fill in his time by writing a nonsense short story called ‘The Frog Who Hopped on One Leg.’ Within a year he had written a dozen short stories and a year later began his first novel Stumped.

Imagination provides an endless supply of ideas that Ken uses to create and craft into his crime and fantasy fiction novels, his preferred genres.

His four books published to date are Stumped and Double Bogey, both crime fiction and Davidia and the Prince of Triplock and Davidia and the Six Sisters, which are youth fantasy fiction. Further stories in both genres are currently in progress. All Ken’s novels are imbued with a slightly wicked sense of humour.

Ken loves travel with many places he has visited providing inspiration for his novels. He has travelled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and other parts of the world and actually lived and worked in Austria, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

When the opportunity arises, Ken is keen to explore more of Australia taking his partner and caravan to parts of the continent far and wide.

‘Travel is a rich tapestry for ideas and life in general and has led to a greater understanding of others,’ he said.

Ken’s primary occupation is an accountant. He spends myriad hours interpreting the ever changing Australian Taxation Act and over the years, he has been in Chartered Practice, Public Practice and currently runs his own business.

Sport has always played a role in Ken’s life. The two crime fiction novels have both been influenced by involvement with a sport (cricket and golf). Ken played cricket with a local club for many years and his time there formed the basis for his first novel Stumped. Ken also had a keen interest in Australia Football with some success on the field. Maybe we will see a crime novel soon revolving around football?

Ken’s research and writing skills for novels have been developed from various experiences including writing a weekly newsletter for the cricket club and telling short stories to his young daughter.

‘Imagination has been the key to writing and the pleasure I have in passing on enjoyment to others,’ Ken said.

On the subject of children, of which Ken has two, he says: ‘Children are a major life blood of a person’s life and it has been a pleasure to be involved in raising them.’

‘Life is about doing. Particularly keeping family and friends close and enjoying quality time with them. Having four siblings and strong parents, I’ve had a solid base to rely on in teaching confidence and learning about relationships’.

‘Humour is a refreshing feeling and allows seriousness in life to relax. We all need escapism at times,’ Ken added.

Ken’s publisher’s website is www.sidharta.com.au

Readers of Ken’s books will be pleased to know that each month Ken will publish a free short story on the website for everyone to enjoy.