1) Welcome to All Book Reviews! In 2020 you were awarded by "Story Monsters". What can you tell us about it?
The award from "Story Monsters" for my first published story, "The Adventures of Jimmy Crikey", was one of the greatest, most unexpected accolades I have ever received for my writing. I must have thought, 'I've cracked it!' If only a writer's path to success was that straightforward.
Jimmy Crikey's story had been formulated almost forty years earlier. It came about by necessity: to entertain a group of four or five young friends whom my four-year-old son had made during an English seaside holiday, almost fifty years earlier. Caught in a shower, the friends sought shelter in our beach tent, and their boisterous games continued in the crowded confines. I was under pressure from my wife, Pat, to control the noise levels.
"How?", I asked.
"Tell them a story or something."
For the first time ever I made up a story, Jimmy Crikey's story, on the spot. One of the kids, the smallest one, was being picked on (bullied) by the others to bring, fetch, and carry. He just happened to have a beautiful mop of bright ginger hair. That child became the hero of my story. I needed monsters and magic to hold the attention of the kids. So, Witch Matilda appeared, and immediately cast a spell over the town. Matilda had three sister witches, and they were guardians of Earth's realms. They were joined by Lord Oron, the ancient Weatherman, who roamed the skies in his personal cloud controlling wind, rain, snow, ice, clouds, and heat. They all became friends with the strange-looking red-headed boy. There was also a need for laughter, so Jimmy was endowed with enormous feet, which he kept falling over. But, Jimmy was an orphaned alien, who had been left on Earth, when his parents died, at the hands of Aunt Ethel, who brought up Jimmy as if he was her own.
There followed a host of adventures; some of which included Gemma, the little lady who lived at the bottom of the well, but didn't know how she got there.
Overall, there was a lesson for the children: it doesn't matter what you look like, it matters what's in your heart. And, with a good heart and a lot of determination, you can rise above the bullies, and excel in whatever you choose.
2) To come back to your latest book of the series, how do you feel about all the positive reviews that you are getting on "The Emerald Lake" book, especially from a very young generation, who nowadays are in the time of technology, and maybe not all of them are used to just sit down and grab a book?
It gives me hope for the future that our youngsters are open to new ideas, which can be passed on in literature. I always try to include some facts, which they might come across and say, 'I didn't know that.' (a little education by stealth)
3) If we want to go further into the story, we see how hard it is to write a whole world of fantasy: from characters, to settings, to the background of every story. How much difficulty do you face writing this genre of books?
I do find writing fantasy challenging, but also extremely enjoyable. There is pleasure in freeing the mind from the confines of reality, and allowing it to roam free, just to see where it might go. And, I believe the seeds were formed during a childhood of poverty and escapism.
4) We have seen many fantasy books turned into movies, like "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Harry Potter", and others. Would you like your book to be on the big screen? Or do you prefer to keep it on paper?
What a thought! I think the breadth of the worlds, that my writing describes, lends itself to a representation on the big screen: worlds beneath, Sky Islands above, star worlds beyond our horizons, and multi-faceted hidden dimensions all around us.
5) Now, would the readers of " The adventures of Jimmy Crickey" expect another story? Or are you planning for another book, and maybe another kind of adventure?
I have started book five in the series which I hope to conclude this year. It may be the last "Jimmy Crikey" adventure. Age catches up with everyone, sooner or later, and I would love to complete (rewrite) my memoir: A kid born in poverty into a loving family, whose father was plagued with illness all his life, yet he never stopped showering on love. A boy who took the blows, and eventually gained his qualifications after six years of part-time night schooling. And, a young man, who gave up a life in the Ministry of Independent Methodism, when he fell in love with a young Catholic lady, who he had first met when they were eleven years old. He left the faith due to pressure from 'elders'. They said that "oil and water do not mix". But, let me assure you they do, if you stir vigorously, and raise the temperature high enough.
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