Derek Taylor was born in County Down, Northern Ireland on 8 June 1951. He was always keen on poetry and at the age of 10 won first prize in the County Down annual Fiesch - arts festival - for poetry. He wrote his first novel when he was 17 and has been writing ever since. Educated at St Patrick's Christian Brother's School, Omagh, he graduated from the University of East Anglia in 1978. After a stint of working for BBC World Service and BBC Radio Suffolk and editing a poetry magazine he travelled extensively before settling in Kent in 1990. He was an occasional radio presenter and producer on local commercial radio stations throughout the 1990s.He published 'A Time Of War', a religious allegory, in 1985 and three novels in the mid-90s. He became interested in Americana roots music and singing cowboys. This led him to the British Archive of Country Music, where he continues to work part-time as an archivist and public relations officer. He has written a series of western novels for Robert Hale Ltd.He also owned and managed three care homes for people with physical and mental disabilities, before retiring in 2006. He returned to broadcasting in 2010 to present a weekly radio show on Radio Caroline.