Who is
Gaz Salmon?
Biography
Born in North East London shortly after the Second World War, I am the eldest of four brothers. My childhood was marked by frequent moves and changes of school. I was never considered an academic high achiever. In fact, one school report introduced an additional category – Daydreaming – in which I proudly achieved an A+. In hindsight, that tendency may have been the seed of storytelling.
After leaving school, I worked briefly as a builder’s apprentice before joining the London Fire Brigade, where I served for over a decade. My time there was both demanding and formative, until a serious injury forced early retirement on medical grounds.
I married in 1969, and together we raised five children – three boys and two girls. We remain close to this day. Following compensation from my injury, we moved to West Wales, where I made a good recovery and retrained in chiropody. I qualified and established my own business, balancing professional life with maintaining our home and garden, parenting, and later grandparenting.
It has been an active and varied life – one shaped by physical labour, public service, family devotion, and, increasingly, reflection.
Why I Write
In recent years, I have felt deeply troubled by the situation in Gaza and the suffering of ordinary people caught in political and military conflict. While I may be of Jewish heritage and bear no responsibility for the actions of governments, I have wrestled with feelings of moral unease. The question of how any people who have themselves suffered persecution could perpetuate suffering upon others is one that has weighed heavily on me.
Writing Layli – Surviving Armageddon became a way of processing that turmoil. Through fiction, I created a world in which the complexities of guilt, justice, revenge, and reconciliation could be explored without direct accusation. The characters’ struggles and moral dilemmas allowed me to examine my own discomfort and sense of responsibility. The act of storytelling became, in a sense, an act of catharsis.
The fictional landscape provided space to imagine not only destruction, but healing. Not only conflict, but transformation. In giving my characters a path toward peace, I found a measure of it within myself.
Best selling books
An epic tale of love, loss, and redemption that will leave you breathless.