Bruce was born and educated in Melbourne, taking his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne in 1969. Trained as a secondary teacher, he quickly left the profession to develop interests in small organisation management, and as a political staffer. He has been CEO of the Southern Region of Councils, the Darwin Motor Sports Council and Australians Donate, and spent 11 years serving four Ministers at State and Territory level.

He honed his love for writing in association with his employment, writing briefing papers, drafting brochures and promotional campaigns, preparing speeches and media releases, and general spin-doctoring. From 1976 he was stunned to be paid for illustrated articles submitted to journals in the fields of his interests - motoring, music, travel, gardening and architecture - and continues this work today.

He edited a Northern Territory lifestyle magazine Living North, leading to editing five such periodicals for a WA publisher in the 1980s. He also wrote a 96 page book on WA wildflowers at that time.

In the 1990s he devised and produced a series of music CDs Pipe Organs of Adelaide, and self-published a book by Dr Harold Fabrikant about German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert. Finishing work due to ill-health in 2002, he began research into the life and works of Australian engineer Bob Chamberlain, and self-published Chamberlain: Australian Innovator in 2007. That book sold out within 16 months of its publication, and his next motoring title – Lancia: 70 Years of Trailblazing – was released in September 2009. He is currently working on four more books, but considers himself a journeyman writer at best.

He has presented seminars and workshops on various aspects of writing to the Northern Territory Public Service, the University of the Third Age, and most recently the SA Writers' Centre. He lives in the Adelaide Hills surrounded by ancient cars, motoring ephemera and an overgrown garden.