Hello, my name is Ian Hulme, and I am the author of The HeavenField, a novel released on this website as a serialised audio podcast.

If you are unsure as to what a podcast audio novel is, then you can skip to the 'What is a podcast?' section on the next page for an explanation.

I was born in 1971, and, after leaving school, spent the next 15 or so years as an artist and musician. Some of my paintings from that time can be seen on my website www.ighulme.com.

I started getting interested in computers in 1998, using them for graphic design as well as creating audio pieces for various collaborations and performances.

I have always had an obsession with the written word - writing song lyrics, poetry, and the odd short story. But around 2002 I began work on a screenplay for a planned 3d animation which quickly spiralled out of control. The more ideas I put down, the more I wanted to know about the story I was creating, and before long, the idea of the animation was forgotten as I wrote chapter after chapter.

Shortly after I began writing in earnest, my wife and I moved to the tiny fishing village of Robin Hood's Bay. In the summer it is a busy tourist location full of packed holiday cottages. But in the winter, the village is practically deserted, and I had the great good fortune to have the winding streets and rocky beaches practically to myself. It was here that I wrote most of The HeavenField, sat on the rocks at the foot of the cliffs as the waves hurled themselves at the shore.

For the next three or four years I re-read and edited the manuscript countless times, until I began work as a web designer at Media Vision, for the most wonderful Chris Ellis. He listened patiently to my ramblings about The Field, and, after reading through the novel, offered to edit it (without quite realising the amount of work he was taking on!). We set about devoting occasional Saturdays to the task, and I personally found this immensely rewarding – at times literally chopping up and rearranging passages that weren't working – sections that had always troubled me, yet I was unable to fix on my own.

As we edited the work, we talked about putting it out to the world, and, decided a great way would be to release it onto the internet in serialised format.

Having been a musician for many years, and having recorded and engineered music in the past, I had the tools to record the readings myself (though I never seem to have enough time!), and podcasts are a great way to keep people up to date with the latest episodes.

It has been great fun and hard work to finally get to the point of releasing The HeavenField, and my one hope is that I can continue to work in The Field that I love.

My heartfelt thanks go to the following for all their support and encouragement:

My wife Gemma - For tireless support, her belief in the project, and her photo for the book cover montage (and her voice in the Prologue).
Steven and Jacqueline - For their friendship, endless help and support, and especially for the use of The HeavenField theme.
Christopher Ellis - For his great work editing the manuscript, his voice acting on the Prologue, and all his tireless support.
Jake Wells - For his work coding the website.
Daniel Peel - For his help coding the website.
Dominic Wells - For building the podcast player and widget.