It's Elementary For Hugh Ashton

Host David Cleinman welcomes Hugh Ashton to the show. Hugh was born in the UK in 1956, and moved to Japan in 1988 to work as a technical writer for a Japanese company. He met his wife, Yoshiko, a few years later, and they now live in Kamakura, a former capital of Japan, a little to the south of Tokyo. Since leaving the company for which he originally worked, Hugh has worked in the fields of IT, with international banks, and Japan’s first Internet Service Provider, and since 1996 as a freelance technical writer and copywriter.

His non-fiction work has appeared in a variety of publications: industry reports on the financial services field; business publications focussing on Japan; advertorials and articles in international business magazines, etc.

In 2009, Hugh’s first published novel appeared, Beneath Gray Skies, set in a 1920s world where the American Civil War had never been fought. The next year saw At the Sharpe End, set in 2008 Tokyo, featuring high technology and low life against the backdrop of the Wall Street crash. Red Wheels Turning, a prequel to Beneath Gray Skies, introduced the major protagonist of the first book, and was set in pre-Revolution Russia and was published in 2011.

Hugh’s latest work of fiction, Tales from the Deed Box of John H. Watson MD, published by Inknbeans Press of Los Angeles features three Sherlock Holmes stories in the original style, and has been well received by readers. More such tales are on their way, to be published as More from the Deed Box of John H. Watson MD.