There are not so much to say about me. I was born and raised near Liege, Belgium. As a kid, my dream was being a Fighter Pilot, flying on F-16 Falcons or Mirages 5 of the Belgian Air Force. As I grew up, I came to see I was not fit for that kind of job and found finally my path in Library work and Architecture model making...

My centre of interest are multiple. I'm a skilled model railroader, writing for the most known Belgian model railroading magazine, also a Flight Combat Sim fan (flown with BOB, European Air War, Jet Fighter III, Combat Flight Simulator... - my favourite aircrafts being the F-14 Tomcat and the Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX... - and still searching a combat flightsim of the Panavia Tornado).

Another center of interest is History, specially military history involving Air Power (WWII Air War, modern Air Warfare), and have particular interrest in Air Warfare over the Balkans (Deny Flight & other peacekeeping operations over Bosnia & Kosovo).

An more specific center of interest in history is WWII history, not only about the Air War, but also about great generals & soldiers of both UK, USA & Germany (the books now on my nightable are the latest biography of Erwin Rommel by B. Lemay, the book "thanks for the Memories" about RAF pilots in WWII, and "The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force" edited by UK's National Archives, and I already bought other ones about Overlord (Normandy 1944) and a biography of a British Air Marshal). I find lots of historical clues that can help me when writing my fictions. Also, I like reading fictions, my favourite authors being Tom Clancy (Jack Ryan series), Stephen Coonts (the Jake Grafton series), Michael Di Mercurio, Clive Cussler (his latest novel, written with Dirk Cussler and named "The Kahn's treasure" is in my bag to read as I travel by train and bus to and from work) and, of course, Anthony Horrowitz's serie "Alex Rider". That does not mean I'm only reading those authors as I already read novels from Frison Roche, Victor Hugo, Jules Vernes, Alexandre Dumas, etc... I've even got the 3-volume leather-bound Deluxe edition (full text, not the shortened one sold as pocket book) of "Les Misérables"... and I read it several times when I was a student, even once for a work in French class at school when I was 16...

I'm also interested in music. I'm a fan of classical music, specially the great romantics composer such as Brahms, Shumann, Liszt, Chopin... but also fan of Baroque music, specially composers as Michel Richard Delalande, Joachim Mourez, JS Bach, Stötzel, Sammartini, Antonio Vivaldi, etc. I also like Johann Strauss light music, and some composers such as Edward Elgar, Dmitri Schostakovitch, Sergueï Rachmaninov, etc. In more "contemporary" music, I like Abba, Aha, Bond, musics by Alan Parker, and also a lot Jazz & Swing (Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Cole Porter as composer), but also like to hear some music from The Eagles, the Beach Boys or The Shadows (with Cliff Richards). I'm also a huge fan of "The High Kings" (Irish Folk Music) and of several movie soundtracks composers as John Williams (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, ...), Jerry Goldsmith (Star Trek, Explorers, etc.), Eric Coates (The Dam Busters), William Walton (Battle in the air, for Battle of Britain ; Spitfire Prelude and Fugue, for the film "The First of the Few") and others.

In Movies, I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, sci-fi movies in general, and also war films about WWII (Battle of Britain, Piece of Cake, The Dam Busters, Reach for the Sky, etc.), Civil War (Gettysburg, God and Generals) and also of some "Heroïc Fantasy" (Eragon, Lord of the Rings, The Dark is Rising...). The last films I've seen in DVD are : TRON Legacy, The Lord of the Rings (extended version), and The Green Lantern (recent additions to my collection of more than 150 DVD's) and, bought in London : Invictus (with Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, two of my favourite actors), A night to remember (the first movie on the Titanic disaster), and of course a wonderful documentary about the Falklands campaign of 1982 found in the National Archives. Also, I've seen the movie "Spitfire", and was awestruck : it exactly describes what those young guys faced during the Battle of Britain !

Also, lately I have fallen in love with the UK, and more precisely with London. I come there each year for a round of researches at the National Archives and the RAF (this year it was again for Wings of Glory, but also about the 1982's Falklands War for Codename Excalibur - you know, just to have the correct historical background when I'll compare some events with what happened 30 years earlier... ). But I also find each year two or three days (often a Week-End) to simply discover the city. Not only the "London Intra Muros" but also the Great London (this year, I went to West Croydon, Clapham Jct, Edgware and of course Fulham Broadway (as a good Chelsea FC fan, I was in a pub for the first game of the Premiere League), only to name four of the places where I went. It's also useful for my writing as in the next opus of my Alex Rider serie, Operation Thunderstorm, the beginning of the story will happen in London with Alex enjoying a good Chelsea FC match with his friends at the local pub... with lots of things from my own experiences ! (I work prioritary on Excalibur though, so it'll be published only after Excalibur is finished.) I also long to discover two other parts of the UK : Cornwall and Scotland. The next trips I'll take to the UK will involve first the Severn Valley, then I'll hope to be able to get to St Yves in Cornwall and then to Mallaig, getting there from Fort William with the steam train "The Jacobite"...

A last point of interest is also Writing. I've already written a small fiction in french, called "Alaskan Memories" (I'm actually in the process of rewriting it, it'll be called "Codename Firestorm") and am right now at work on a fiction (no fan fiction, but more a fiction based on historical facts) called "Wings of Glory" and depicting the history of Peter Alexander, first born son of an American pilot who flew with the Lafayette squadron in France in WWI. As his story and the one of his three other brothers, I'd like to brush a wide epic painting of the Air War over Europa from the Battle of Britain in 1940 to the last battles in the skies over Berlin in 1945. I'm also actually at work on a Alex Rider fanfiction called "Codename : Excalibur", involving an older Alex Rider and my passion for Military Aircraft (He became Fighter Pilot in the RAF). Another fiction, called "Odyssey Dawn", is now finished. It finds its inspiration in what's happening since February in Libya with somehow the two heroes being related to the main characters of WoG, and one of them will be present in "Excalibur"... So, as you can see, I really have history, reading, writing and research work flowing in my veins. Also, I've started to work on a book on Railway Modelling techniques for a British publisher, but I'll tell you more about it when it'll be published...

A bit more about me ? I was born in 1970 in the coutryside near Liège, speak fluent French & English, and speak also Dutch. Still single (who knows, maybe it'll change someday...), I work shifts of 8 to 10 hours sometimes, and still work 3 to 4 hours at home... I'm 6 foot tall, light brown hairs, brown eyes... But you can see my pic as Avatar (I was ten years younger at the time)... You'll see why I like so much the Fighter's way of life... in fact I was that day in the cockpit of a Belgian Air Force Alpha-Jet training jet aircraft...

Hope you'll enjoy my work, and pretty please don't be too hard on me if I make any mistakes in english as English is not my first language, (french being my mother tongue).

Eric J. Alderson.

My stories in progress :

Alaskan Memories : Older version in french, rewriting in process (will be published later in English as "Codename : Firestorm)

The last flight of the Blue Falcon : One-Shot depicting the last mission of an American fighter pilot in Lybia, 2011 (complete)

Odyssey Dawn : Lossiemouth, Scotland, March 21, 2011... This is the story of the air raids over Libya from the POV of a British pilot, leader of the renown squadron 617 "Dambusters". It'll carry you along his missions from Scotland to Italy and the sands of Libya... (this character will also appear in "Codename : Excalibur" and "Codename : Firestorm") - (Complete).

Odyssey Dawn, VF : Lossiemouth, Ecosse, 21 mars 2011... C'est l'histoire des raids aériens sur la Libye racontée par un pilote Britannique, chef de la célèbre escadrille 617 "Dambusters" (Briseurs de Barrages) de la Royal Air Force. Elle vous transportera à travers ses missions de l'Ecosse à l'Italie et aux sables de Libye. Tom Harris apparaît dans les derniers chapitres, tout comme Alex Rider (préquel à Codename : Excalibur, ou l'on retrouvera le personnage de James Alexander ainsi que son frère Richard) (En cours - traduction de la version anglaise) - Actuellement au Chapitre 6 : Problèmes techniques et pilotes blessés… - On Hiatus

"Codename : Excalibur" : This story happens six years after Crocodile Tears, and Scorpia Rising never happened. Alex is joining the RAF as fighter pilot, and is about to marry Sabina, when he has to hide from Scorpia again. That's how he'll be involved in a new invasion of the Falkland Islands by the Argentinian military that would lead him to his final confrontation with his worst nightmare : Scorpia ! - Actually at Chapter 17 : Operation "Excalibur" (next chapter in preparation is Chapter 18 : The Ghosts of Razgriz) (I know... The reference to Ace Combat 5 is not accidental...)

Stories in study :

"Codename : Firestorm" : The story of James and Philip Alexander's fathers in both the USAFE and in the RAF from 1985 to 2001, with the Gulf War and the Balkan Wars... Also hints to a young Alex Rider as his father John and his uncle Iain will appear in the story... (publishing date depend on my work schedule)

Operation Thunderstorm : A sequel to Codename Excalibur. Alex is back to Britain, leading the Royal Navy's first Typhoon squadron, when remnants of Scorpia provides nuclear weapons to Iran who has been taken from within by a cruel extremist dictator... Both his squadron and James Alexander's one will be involved in this operation, fighting from the deck of the all new HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Queen Victoria to put an end to this nuclear threat against Europe and the US... (2014, I hope...)

Pictures for Codename : Excalibur

They are available from my Picasa album, https://picasaweb.google.com/117448585984500017009/CodenameExcalibur?authuser=0&feat=directlink

There you'll find some pictures of Alex as Flt Lt McKittrick or Squadron Leader Rider (later in the book) in both Mount Pleasant and Wideawake... Feel free to tell me what you think of them by PM.