Although many of my characters are gay, as I am, my work appeals to a wide audience irrespective of gender or orientation. My second novel, The Butterfly's Wing, functions on several levels - as the description of a deep love affair, as a dialogue between the developing and industrialised world and, in its closing pages, as a thriller. As the extracts on this site show, my range of characters continues to broaden, as I portray the passions and emotions found across the full spectrum of human relationships.

My most recent work of fiction - First and Fiftieth - continues this trend. The fifteen stories, all told in the first person, span five continents and include men and women from teenagers to grandparents. As the blurb puts it, "each speaks with a distinctive voice and with intense emotion as love and sex, violence and humour, anger and pathos meet in this kaleidoscope of human comedy and tragedy."

Although my HIV, sexuality and development work is now freelance, for many years I was closely associated with the Panos Institute, an international non-profit organisation working in sustainable development. I have published several books and many articles on HIV/AIDS in the developing world, most recently on masculinity and male sexuality, and access to treatment for the disease. I am no longer attached to Panos, but work as a freelance consultant on HIV, sexuality, the media and related issues.

I have written a large number of book reviews, travel articles and interviews on a wide range of subjects for publications on both sides of the Atlantic. I have also translated articles and fiction from French, German and Spanish, and João Silvério Trevisan's socio-historical study of homosexuality in Brazil, Perverts in Paradise from Portuguese.