Having originally trained as a biochemist − before realizing he wasn′t much good at science − John Edwards became an anchorman for PharmaVision‚ a live−TV broadcast service produced by ICI Pharmaceuticals. He left in 1999 to become a full−time writer. His hobbies and interests include muzzle−loading shooting‚ history and politics. Flint and Silver was inspired by the many unanswered questions left by Robert Louis Stevenson′s much−loved classic‚ Treasure Island.