James was born near Liverpool, England. He moved to Singapore when he was seven and has lived in Oman, Thailand, France and Scotland. He now lives in Madrid, Spain, with his wife and two children. He loves writing and reading.

The Invisible Hand, the first book in the Shakespeare´s Moon series was published by Lodestone Books in February 2017. It was born out of his love of Macbeth.
Cold Fire, based on Romeo and Juliet, was published on 31st August, 2018. The third book in the trilogy, The Unexpected, based on Julius Caesar, was published on May 29th, 2020. It's set in the future and ties up the series.

He has also published a short novel, Entanglement, and two short Christmas novellas, The Bigger Picture and The Flight.

James has also written horror under the pen-name AJ Leehart, including The Gorge, Dog Days and Patti.

His first collection of poetry "The Rainy Season" was published by KTP in October 2020. A second, for children, "Diamond Rain" was published in December 2020.