Who am I?

Jos Kremers, born in Veghel, the Netherlands, in April 1949.

Let me introduce myself!

I spent my working life in the construction industry. After completing my technical education, I spent ten years working on building sites as a carpenter. Realising that this was physically demanding work, I continued my education while working as a carpenter. At first, I focused on broadening my general knowledge, and later I followed courses specifically related to my profession.

After working in several different positions, I eventually joined a construction estimating team. This involved calculating the costs of construction projects, ranging from a simple garden shed to an entirely new factory complex. During the second half of my professional career, I was head of the estimating department. As a construction cost expert, structure and efficiency were important. I still value these qualities highly in my stories. Fortunately, creativity and solution-oriented thinking are equally important. Our clients were able to realise major projects thanks to my creative and out-of-the-box thinking.

At school, Dutch was my favourite subject. For my profession, however, I naturally chose mathematics — my weakest subject.

Throughout all those years, writing was always there in the background. Occasionally, I was asked to demonstrate my writing skills, for example by contributing a column to the company magazine or preparing speeches for my boss or for myself.

It was only after my working life that I really began to devote myself to writing. My first tentative attempt resulted in an autobiographical novel. I still had a great deal to learn, but readers found my style enjoyable: easy to read and able to hold their attention.

I still work a few days a week in construction — as a freelancer — but writing is taking up an increasingly important place in my life.

Judge for yourself!