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 extremely important to me. Those are qualities I also like to see reflected in my stories. Fortunately, creativity and the ability to find solutions were equally important in my profession. My creative and out-of-the-box thinking helped our clients to realise a number of significant construction projects.
At school, Dutch was my favourite subject. So naturally, when choosing a profession, I ended up working with numbers — which had always been my weakest subject!
Throughout all those years, however, writing was quietly waiting in the background.
From time to time, I was given the opportunity to put my writing skills to the test, for example by writing a column for our company magazine or preparing speeches for my boss or for myself.
It was only after my full-time professional career had ended that I began to take writing seriously.
My first somewhat hesitant attempt resulted in an autobiographical novel. I still had a great deal to learn, but readers appreciated my writing style. They found it fluent and easy to read, while keeping their attention from beginning to end.
I still work freelance in the construction industry a few days a week, but writing is taking up an increasingly important place in my life.