Before I came here I made documentary films – I had an extremely good time as a freelance director, working for the BBC, Thames and Granada television. I met some remarkable people and made some films that won major awards but never quite satisfied me. So I came to France to write. My agent warned me if I dropped off the spinning wheel I would never claw my way back on (he was a Hollywood man from Chorley Wood and such phrases came naturally to him). As I looked out over miles of uninhabited Cevennol wilderness, that felt good too………… (now read on).