FATHER MAC: ORIGINS People ask me “What gave you the idea for Father Mac?” It seems that all my life I’ve pondered the sort of events described in the book – certainly from well before the time I married, and that was over 53 years ago. I suppose there was a sort of “Eureka moment” – certainly a realisation that the basic idea was so important that however and whenever my thoughts on this idea might develop, one day I simply had to get everything down on paper. However, as the years went by, I was obliged to keep Father Mac on a back burner because I couldn’t guarantee the sustained commitment needed to create a full-scale novel of Father Mac’s breadth. Apart from the writing of around 1,000 words a day, time would have to be found for research and the continual refinement of existing text. In the early years I was always busy at work by day, and pursuing a social agenda in the evenings and at weekends – sport, Bridge, courtship – that sort of thing. Then came marriage, children and domestic duties. At the same time, I was pursuing a hectic career in intelligence. This included three overseas postings, among them three years in Ottawa, where some of the action of “Father Mac” would be set. Nevertheless, I did manage during all those years at least to stay involved in creative writing in some form or other, but these always had to be the shorter tasks – a poem here, a revue sketch there. Then came retirement. Now at last I could find the time, couldn’t I? I must have been joking. First, I organised my vast accumulation of poetry, published two books in the 1990s, then made a CD containing a long children’s story in verse, and another CD of my humorous verse for the blind (later selected for the Talking Books service). I then found myself giving recitals all over the West of England, initially for blind clubs, then on many other speaker circuits. I finally gave these up, but by then, in 2005, we’d opened our own Community radio station – Radio Winchcombe, and I became very involved with broadcasting, writing and presenting programmes. Finally, I decided “Enough is enough, let’s get my story down.” Once I’d started, it was as if the story took over and wrote itself. I dedicated 3 or 4 hours every evening to the task, and couldn’t wait to get on the computer the next day to find out what was going to happen next. It was a challenge blending so many different disciplines into one cohesive narrative – theology, science, medicine, intelligence, cryptanalysis – but fortunately, the characters I’d created seemed to know what they were talking about, so that was a great help. I must also own up to a hidden agenda. As a Roman Catholic, like others of that faith I am saddened both by its persistently conservative policies and particularly by the scandalous behaviour of some members of its clergy. I am also dismayed that the writings of Dan Brown are able so easily to exploit the Church’s present unpopularity. Thus, whatever else it does, Father Mac exist as a modest rival to Mr Brown! I do hope you get as much enjoyment from reading Father Mac, as I did in writing it! It really is a page-turner.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 17:03:07 +0000
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