About me

Big-hearted, aspiring author, a reluctant gardener, arrogant and stubborn, a champion for the disadvantaged; there must be at least 1001 descriptions you could use to try and describe me. And to be honest, they still wouldn’t capture my essence entirely. In my case, a picture does not describe a thousand words.

It’s amazing what a fresh haircut and a new pair of glasses can do!

But here’s a few word’s which do get quite close to the mark.

• Dreamer
• Complex
• Awkward, stubborn, and
• Difficult

Of course, no one really wants to be described in these terms. So while I don’t revel in my non-conformity to social norms, equally, I don’t shy away from them either. I am who I am, and I live comfortably in that surety.

When you are trying to peddle your writing – there’s a certain dichotomy about how you describe yourself. Will people buy a book or story from a person self-described as a right bastard? (Not me – I assure you). Will you buy a book from someone who sold their soul to the devil barely three months after their first communion? (Not me).

Perhaps this is why authors biographies are so brief and non-descriptive – could it be that writers are trying to protect themselves against the most perceptive of their prospective readers. Protecting themselves against prying eyes and minds, and the value judgments people might slap on them. I don’t care, and neither should you.

But there is another more likely possibility and that is people don’t really care; they don’t really mind who they buy books from. The story, the characters, the plot, are both paramount and so they should be!

So that said, let the reading begin!

Here’s my very banal writers biography.

After a career in finance taking him from New Zealand to Australia, the United Kingdom and then back to NZ; Roly Andrews now works in the Disability Sector. Previously mentoring rough sleepers in London, then supporting people and families affected by suicide, Roly is a keen advocate for the rights of people living with disabilities. 

He lives in Nelson with his wife and daughter. In his spare time, Roly enjoys fishing and tramping in the mountains and forests of Aotearoa. He also likes to play social cricket, analyse rugby and spend time with his family. After many years of practising, he is still trying to learn to play the trombone!

What can be worse than the sound of a trombone?

The screams of the dead.