For Billy Ellis, life is one series of disasters after another. His haemorrhoids have just cost him promotion, his new boss is threatening to move in next door, and on the very occasions he need a condom, he can’t even buy a packet without almost getting arrested.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, he’s suddenly woken up to the fact that he’s almost thirty, still single and has the looks that give a new meaning to the word ‘average’.

But at the end of last year, as always, Billy read his ‘Log of Life’ and vowed to make things better.

And this year, he succeeded. Eventually.

What genre is it?
It doesn’t really fit into any genre as ‘lad-lit’ still isn’t recognised by the publishing world but if I had to put it anywhere, it would be there.

You’re right, there should be a male answer to chick lit. Why would Billy’s Log qualify for that label, though?
Reviewed many times as ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary… for lads!’ Billy’s Log reveals the frustrations of life for a single male and the never-ending battle to understand the workings of the female mind.

Who would “lad-lit” – and Billy’s Log especially – appeal to?
I wrote it primarily for males but as you can see from the reviews on Amazon, women seem to love it just as much. In fact so popular is Billy as a character that I’m under pressure to write the follow up.

The reason, I suspect, is that I think I got pretty close to capturing the essence of what actually makes the average guy tick. But then again, I wrote it with myself in mind as Billy and I’m as average as it gets!

The average guy, last time we checked, hasn’t written a bestselling book.  Tell us about Billy, though. How is he average?
The essence of Billy is that he’s a genuinely nice guy but very confused about all kinds of things, most of which are related to females.

Billy’s Log is really about his journey from ‘lad’ to ‘man’ and how he finally grows up. Well, as much as any man ever grows up!

How did you come up with the idea for the novel?
It actually came to me shortly after the original Bridget Jones Diary was published when someone gave me a copy and told me I had to read it.

As someone who is inherently pro-‘bloke’ it appalled me because it was just page after page of anti-male propaganda! As a result, I set out to write about the search for love and romance from the perspective of an average male. Ironically, it soon turned into something of an autobiography which tells you a lot about me!

Tell us about your life – let us decide how much you are like Billy.
I was born in 1959 and spent 18 years in the RAF before somehow falling into life as a writer.

Life these days is spent mostly wondering how I’m still getting away with it whilst at the same time wishing I was retired.

You’ve written other books?
I’ve actually written 15 books in all kinds of genre as well as a couple of movies, the most famous of which to date was Green Street.

The Elijah Woods movie? We loved that movie! Will you be making any more movies?
We’re just about to start filming an adaptation of my own novel, Top Dog which will star Leo Gregory (Green Street, Wild Bill) and be directed by Martin Kemp who most people will know from The Krays and of course, Spandau Ballet.

After that, we’ll be filming an urban thriller about a group of old villains and I’m also working on a new novel.

Yes, we should go back to talking about books, I suppose.
My latest novel is entitled Wings of a Sparrow which is a comedy about football and family. That comes out in paperback at the end of October 2013.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
www.dougiebrimson.com.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
I can be followed via @dougiebrimson and if you search my name on Facebook, you’re bound to find me. I’m a huge advocate of social media for authors.