Trevor Wood, born 1958 in Bristol, having lived here nearly 30 years considers himself an adopted Geordie. After 16 years in the Royal Navy, those 30 Northern years have been busy, apart from having a full family life, City Council spin doctor, journalist, successful playwright, MA in Creative Writing, soup kitchen volunteer and now an award-winning novelist.
In partnership with fellow journalist Ed Waugh from South Shields, Wood started writing plays in 2002, some like Dirty Dusting still touring today, over 20 years later. More than a decade later, Waugh continues writing many successful plays, covering the lives and achievements of local characters while Wood began writing novels. His first The Man in The Street was published in 2020, followed by One Way Street in 2021 then Dead End Street. Wood did not set out to write a trilogy but buckled to the great demand.
The Man in The Street is centred around a homeless veteran, Jimmy Mullen, who hears something he shouldn’t, then he sees the headline "Man is Missing" and mystery and intrigue follow. “Fresh, original, authentic and gritty. Should be an instant classic” said Lee Child, and it was.
The other two follow further events in Jimmy’s life and include his two fellow homeless acquaintances. However, Wood had a four-book contract, so where to from there? His latest, You Can Run published on 16 March this year, is a complete departure from the format of the previous three. Taking inspiration from his taglines, “It takes a village to save a child”, You Can Run is set in a fictional Northumbrian village where a young girl has to rely on the village she has shunned all her life to save her. While written as a standalone novel about Ruby, it has the kind of ending which begs a question, interesting?
The evening was introduced and shared by ITV presenter Ian Payne, who was hooked by the book from page one. Research is an integral part of Wood’s writings; having been a journalist, he knows the importance of facts and searched far and wide for the right setting. When it was not found, he invented a village incorporating many characteristics of those in deserted parts of Northumbria, giving it an authenticity. Many who have read his books comment on how they recognise and relate with various locations described in them, giving them a connection with the story.
Wood is presently commissioned to write two more novels, which he has started and revealed they are police-based. His work has attracted a lot of interest from TV and film companies, taking options out to transfer the novels to screen, so watch this space. His book launch continued at Durham, Liverpool and Stockton with Tuesday 28 at Corbridge and Wednesday 29 March 2023 at Alnwick, both at 7:30PM, tickets on Ticketsource.