AmeriCymru spoke to Welsh crime fiction writer and roving guitarist Andrew Peters:-

" I was born in beautiful Barry on June 21st many years ago. That''s the longest day of the year ("Bloody felt like it too" Mrs GE Peters) so I have always yearned for the sun. After looking for it in vain in the UK, I toured the world as a guitarist and finally settled in Spain in 2004. "

Books by Andrew Peters

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AmeriCymru: Hi Andrew and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. Can you tell us a little about your Welsh background and how you came to be living in the wilds of central Spain?

Andrew: I was born in beautiful Barry on June 21st many years ago. That''s the longest day of the year ("Bloody felt like it too" Mrs GE Peters) so I have always yearned for the sun. After looking for it in vain in the UK, I toured the world as a guitarist and finally settled in Spain in 2004.

My parents left Wales when I was 10 and insisted I accompany them, but I have returned often, since my mother''s family are landed gentry in the millionaire''s playground of Aberdare, and Mother now lives in upmarket Saundersfoot.

AmeriCymru: At what point did you take up writing crime fiction? Would you describe your work as crime fiction?

Andrew: I never wrote anything at all until June 2012, when I wrote a story about murdering my ex (every boy''s dream) in response to some banter with Facebook friends. Inside two months, I had forty short stories written, all brilliant, and probably dictated by aliens.

Most of my stuff is crime related, and definitely fiction, though I am not one for the meticulously researched police procedural, and there will be no ritual serial killers sending cryptic clues to drunk policemen with unsupportive bosses and troubled marriages.

Most of my stuff has a Welsh connection and my puerile humour, but I did write two "straight" crime novels (JOE SOAP & SUBTRACTION) from which all Welshness and every joke was carefully removed. People still claimed to laugh at them.

AmeriCymru: Can you tell us a little about Otis King, Memphis'' Number One Welsh Blues detective?

Andrew: Well, The Blues Detective started out as just one short story in a collection, but has now expanded to twenty short stories, three Kindle novellas and two novels.

Otis K ing''s real name and origins are shrouded in mystery, though there is talk of bus-cond ucting in Aberdare, the Welsh Secret Service and a spell in the Glamorgan State Penitentiary. He moved to Memphis with his guitar to make it big, but only managed to make it small, so he supplements his income and funds his bourbon and blonde habits by investigating Blues-related cases. He''s rather a soft-boiled detective, since he scares very easily and guns make him nervous. Fortunately he can usually find some bigger blokes to do the rough stuff. He likes well-upholstered blondes, tidy guitars, Welsh bourbon,fast cars and despises modern jazz pianists.

AmeriCymru: Care to introduce your character Retired Chief Superintendent Williams (the semi-legendary "Williams Of The Yard") for our readers?

Andrew: Another strange character. He was a legend at Scotland Yard in the later years of the last century, but never talks about that. He only discusses his early cases as a young DI in Barry in the sixties. His recollections are a little clouded by the passage of years and gin. He hasn''t moved with the times too well, so can be a little lacking in the niceties of political correctness, and rather prefers the world of 1966 to 2013. Oddly for a detective, he gets on very well with his superiors and is very happily married.

Yes, I know...very far-fetched.

AmeriCymru: We learn from your bio that you share your place with two gorgeous local cats, more guitars than you can count and a fridge full of wine. Can you tell us a little about your guitar collection?

Andrew: Well.....one picture is worth 1000 words...

AmeriCymru: And,.... the all important question, are you a red or white wine drinker?

Andrew: Yes! But only to excess.

AmeriCymru: What are you reading at the moment? Any recommendations?

Andrew: I don''t read much at all these days, much prefer the guitars and getting outside in the real world. I recommend Robert B Parker, Damon Runyon, Dylan Thomas & PG Wodehouse...all of whom are too dead to sue me for blatant plagiarism.

AmeriCymru: What''s next for Andrew Peters? What are you working on at the moment?

Andrew: I think my oeuvre is complete now, ten books seems a nice round number, and nobody''s offering me millions to churn out any more. Not written a word since August and have no ideas.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Andrew: Awfully nice of you to chat to me, everyone please buy all my books immediately and make me stinking rich, famous and more attractive to women. Failing that, never forget you''re Welsh and if you ever have any Blues-related cases that need solving, call Otis King 634-5789