243. Colonel Roland Ladley: Army Officer, Teacher & Author

Roland Ladley and I were at six form school together, The Army's Welbeck college, and then met again later, a number of times, including two years at the British Army Staff College, where he was one of the many bright minds that I served alongside. After a successful army career Roland left aged 44 and went into teaching where he quickly became a deputy head.

Now he runs a compassionate leadership consultancy, as well as writing some cracking books called the Sam Green series where Sam, the heroine find herself in some amazing scrapes and highlights the problems for people on the autism spectrum with ADHD and how she finds ways of overcoming that while fighting criminals and evil dark organisations.

From the comfort of his caravan that he travels around Europe in, we discuss what compassionate leadership means, and share some of his views, experiences and life stories, which are fascinating to hear.

On Amazon his review says:

Roland Ladley’s detailed, but flowing narrative has been compared favourably to Le Carré and Deighton; Sam Green, his ‘flawed but resolute’ protagonist, to a female Jack Reacher – ‘only more edgy and much more prone to tears.’ His second spy thriller in the Sam Green series, Fuelling the Fire, won a publishing contract with Kindle Scout and went on to become a best-seller in its genre. His other six books in the series, Unsuspecting Hero, The Innocence of Trust, For Good Men to Do Nothing, On The Back Foot To Hell, Blood Red Earth and The Belmonte Paradox, have been equally well reviewed in both the UK and the US.

If espionage is your bag – and you’re after realistic, up-to-date conspiracy thrillers with a strong female lead – then the Sam Green series is waiting for you. Or, if you’re after a softer, female-led action adventure try of Black Bulls and White Horses, Roland Ladley’s first non-Sam Green novel, written during the first covid_19 lockdown. Here teacher Emily Copeland follows her mother’s past to the lawless Camargue region of France. Love … and death follow

To bring realism to his writing Roland Ladley draws upon twenty-five years military service, including complex tours of Bosnia, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. Subsequent work as a teacher enables him to communicate lucidly to a wide audience, and two grown-up daughters ensure he can laugh at himself and find comic moments in his writing when the tension is at its greatest.

Now a full time writer based in Bristol, UK, he lives an itinerant lifestyle with his wife in their motorhome, posting a travel/writing blog and marketing his six Sam Green novels. With the books’ cinematic style, it’s not surprising that the first, Unsuspecting Hero, has been turned into a mini-series screenplay and is being considered by a well-known British director.

Find him via his blog: the.wanderlings. And follow him on Twitter, Instagram or via Facebook @rolandtheauthor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.