1. What is your name, where were you born
and where do you live now?
Hi, my name is Tom Jackson, and although I
originate from cold and wet Manchester, England (and am proud to call myself a
Mancunian), I have lived in hot and dry Athens, Greece, with my wife and
daughter for almost 35 years.
2. Did
you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
The
short answer is yes. I’ve always wanted to write. Unfortunately, for far too long, serious writing was
not an option - work got in the way. What changed was early retirement. I was
with a British Bank, initially in my home city of Manchester, and then here in
Greece. With retirement came the resurrection of the deep-rooted desire and
ambition to write.
3. When did you first consider yourself as
a "writer"?
At
the age of ten - although my aspirations were rather limited at the time.
4. Did it take a long time to get your
first book published?
As
I’m sure everyone knows, with fiction you first have to find a literary agent.
In today’s economic climate that can be well nigh impossible. So having tried
for about a year I published my ebook independently through Smashwords. And I’m
very glad I did!
5. Do you work another job as well as your
writing work?
I
worked for a British Bank for over 32 years, and am now retired.
6. What is the name of your latest book,
and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
‘The
Devil’s Legacy’ is my debut novel, and I am very proud of it. The Devil’s
Legacy is a contemporary mystery with flashbacks to the 18th, 19th and 20th
centuries.
The decision
to return the Parthenon Marbles to Greece leads to the opening of Pandora’s Box
and the unleashing of terrible secrets threatening the very fabric of British
society.
7. Who is your publisher? or do you self
publish?
I
publish independently through Smashwords.
8. How long does it usually take you to
write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
‘The
Devil’s Legacy’ is my debut novel. I spent about one year researching the
historical elements before writing, and about two years on the writing, and
re-writing process.
9. What can we expect from you in the
future? i.e. more books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Basically
the same genre, i.e. mystery / crime / adventure. However I am also thinking
about a trilogy set in 19th century Greece, which will be a little different.
10. Do you have plans for a new book? Is this
book part of a series?
Although
‘The Devil’s Legacy’ is definitely a stand-alone novel, I am considering a
sequel.
11. What genre would you place your books
into?
A
good question. I think that ‘The Devil’s Legacy’ overlaps several genres -
mystery / crime / adventure / historical.
12. What made you decide to write that genre
of book?
It’s
what I enjoy reading.
13. If you had to choose to be one of your
characters in your book which would you be? and why?
Johnnie
Walker - because he really has hit bottom, and then finds a new reason to live
again.
14. How long have you been writing? And who
or what inspired you to write?
I took
pleasure in writing from an early age. I think my first attempt at a short
story was around the age of ten. I believe that my desire to write stems from
reading. Every Monday I would visit the local lending library and stock up with
five or six books to keep me going for the week.
15. Where do you get your book plot ideas
from? What/Who is your inspiration?
Many years
ago I attended a conference here in Athens on the Restitution of the Parthenon
Marbles. The keynote speaker at the event was the late Jules Dassin (the film
director and husband of Melina Mercouri). I must admit that my initial
attendance at the conference was somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Like the vast
majority of British nationals I had little knowledge of the exact sequence of
events leading up to the Parthenon Marbles being owned by Britain, and housed in
the British Museum. For me they were merely another collection of antiquities
we had acquired a couple of centuries ago. We owned them! Why should we just
hand them back? What was the big deal?
However, the
conference stimulated my curiosity, and I became interested in the actual
events surrounding the removal of the Marbles by Lord Elgin’s agents. This led
me to undertake considerable research here in Athens and in the UK - including
a visit to the archives of the British Museum. This research in turn led me to
the undoubted conclusion that the Marbles had been removed illegally, without
any proper authority. In fact, the man actually responsible for the removal,
Hunt, admitted quite openly at the time that he was able to remove the Marbles
only through a combination of ‘cajolery, threats and bribery’! The bottom line
is that I felt, as an Englishman, I must do something to rectify the errors of
our ancestors.
There have
been many publications of a purely academic nature regarding the removal of the
Marbles, however, I am not aware of anything fictionalising the event - and
thus felt that my novel may well offer a uniquely interesting and
thought-provoking perspective. As well as a good and fun read! I started
with two words: ‘What if!’ And then developed the main plot and the various
sub-plots from there.
16. Do you have a certain routine you have
for writing? i.e. You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
I
like peace and quiet. I just sit at my computer, often with a cup of tea, and
close the door.
17. Do you have anybody read your books and
give you reviews before you officially release them? i.e. Your partner,
children, friends, reviewers you know?
My
daughter and a few friends read the original manuscript.
18. Do you gift books to readers to do
reviews?
Indeed I do.
19. Would you ever ask a reviewer to change
their review if it was not all positive about your book/books?
I’m
not sure, as I’m awaiting the first official review for my debut novel. A
reviewer is entitled to his/her opinion about a book, and not every reviewer
has the same taste. So I think I would live with it and hope for constructive
criticism. We all have things to learn.
20. How do you come up with the Title and
Cover Designs for your book/books?
The focal point for the novel is the theft of the
Parthenon Marbles over two hundred years ago, and the secrets surrounding the
conspiracy are hidden in Pandora’s Box. So the Parthenon itself, and the Box on
fire with elements from the story escaping smoke-like seemed highly
appropriate. The concept of the cover was the result of a family pow-wow - my
wife is an artist.
21. Who designed the Cover of your books?
The great cover design was by Laura Shinn in the
States.
22. Do you choose a title first, or write the
book then choose the title?
The
book came first. I think it always must.
23. How do you market/promote your books?
Anything
and everything!
First,
I contacted everybody I knew by phone or email to promote ‘The Devil’s Legacy’,
and to ask them to pass the word - it ran into the hundreds. Then I used the
internet: to create a blog, a Facebook page for myself, and for the book (my
daughter and her husband beat me to it here), a Goodreads page, etc. I am
arranging for blog reviews of my novel - the first ones should be out this
January - blog interviews and guest posts on blogs. I’ve given a couple of
interviews to international newspapers and am working on another for a Greek
magazine.
As
I have already said, the focal point for the novel
is the theft of the Parthenon Marbles two hundred years ago, and their return
to Greece. This is an issue I feel very strongly about, and I have, therefore,
also been in touch with like-minded organizations and individuals
internationally.
The marketing / promotion seems never-ending.
24. What do you think makes a book a really
good/bestseller?
It
all starts with a well-written plot and vivid characterization. Most people
want to sit down with a good book and escape into another world. After all, we
can experience anything we want in a book. What captivates readers and draws
them in is a great storyline and characters that come to life.
However,
even a great book will not become a good/best seller without marketing. It will
simply disappear into the mass of all the other books out there. So dynamic
promotion: book reviews, word of mouth, advertising, newspaper articles, media
interviews, etc. etc., are all essential.
25. Have you ever suffered from a
"writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
Not
really, not yet, anyway, thank God. I’ve had moments when I had to stop for a
few days to think and consider where I was going with the novel, and then I
continued, re-wrote, whatever. But I’m sure the time will come when I’m stuck
in a big way. It does for all writers.
26. What do you do to unwind and relax? Do
you have a hobby?
Read.
Listen to music. Watch a good film. Walking. A bit of gardening.
27. Have you ever based characters on people
you know or based events on things that have happened to you?
Yes,
occasionally, but I’d rather not go into specifics. I don’t want to upset
friends! One of my characters in ‘The Devil’s Legacy’ is the head of the Greek
mafia. I can honestly go on record as saying that I don’t know anyone like
this!
28. Are there any hidden messages or morals
contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The
moral of this story is..")
I
think there are two main messages/morals. The first is the physical message -
that the Parthenon
Marbles were removed from Athens two hundred years ago illegally, without any
proper authority, and must be returned to their rightful home. The second is
the psychological message - that in life there is always hope for a person to
go on, to start again, to be re-born, no matter what has happened to him/her.
29. Is there a certain Author that influenced
you in writing?
I
don’t think that I modelled myself specifically on one writer. I love
adventure/mystery/crime fiction generally as well as historical fiction, so I
guess that I was influenced more by the genres.
30. Which format of book do you prefer,
ebook, hardback, or paperback?
Paperback,
although I now have a Kindle which I’m really getting to like.
31. What is your favourite book and why?
Have you read it more than once?
My
all-time favourite is ‘Pride and Prejudice. I’ve lost track of how many times
I’ve read it, but it must be over one hundred.
32. Do you think books transfer to movies
well? Which is you favourite/worst book to movie transfer?
The
best answer to this is a quote from Steve Martin (I think it was at the Oscars
a few years ago). He said something like:
I wrote a novel this year, and several
producers wanted to turn it into a movie. And I said, "If you think you're
going to take this book and change it around . . . and Hollywoodize it . . .
and change the ending . . . . . . . . . that's going to cost you!"
Basically,
books do not transfer well - with a few well-known exceptions/classics, e.g.
Gone With The Wind, To Kill A Mocking Bird, Harry Potter. In many cases they
are disfigured, or even destroyed. Authors have to put up with this if they
want to sell their book to Hollywood. I can’t give you the worst - there are
far, far, too many!
The best
transfer I have ever seen was, in fact, for a BBC TV series rather than a film.
It was the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and
Jennifer Ehle. It was absolutely superb!
33. What are you currently reading? Are you
enjoying it? What format is it? (ebook, hardback or paperback)
Funnily enough over the Christmas / New Year period
I just wanted to put my feet up and relax with an old friend. So I read ‘Pride
and Prejudice’ (again) and I’m just about to re-read ‘The Manchester Man’ by
Mrs. Linnaeus Banks which is set in early 19th century Manchester (my home
town). I do have the paperback version. Although it is a little known work of
fiction (and some of the working-class dialect in the first chapter or so can
be difficult to follow initially) it is worth the effort.
34. Do you think ebooks will ever totally
replace printed books?
Yes,
ebooks are the future. For better or worse. Printed books will still be around
for the next generation, but like gramophone records and video cassettes they
will be more of a collectors item, than the norm.
35. Did you read a lot at school and write
lots of stories or is being a writer something newer in your life?
As I already
said, I took pleasure in writing from an early age.
I vividly
remember a high school essay contest I won back in the autumn of 1963 the plot
of which surrounded the assassinations of the American President, John F
Kennedy, and the Russian Premier, Khrushchev. Within two months JFK was dead,
and I was in a state of some shock. Spooky! It took me some time to get over
the experience.
36. What do you think about book trailers?
Great
if you have the money to do a top-class job. Unfortunately, the majority of us
don’t have the resources. So I think it’s a no-go!
37. What piece of advice would you give to a
new writer?
Keep writing. Work hard. Re-write and re-write.
Stay positive. Don’t despair. Rejection is not failure . . . it merely tests
your own resolve.
38. Do you or would you ever use a pen name?
No.
Pen names were/are useful in certain circumstances, but I am happy simply to
publish in my name.
Where
can readers follow you?
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99678
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5390400.Tom_Jackson
Goodreads book page: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13222949-the-devil-s-legacy
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Legacy-ebook/dp/B006QA3GLI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325060164&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devils-legacy-tom-jackson/1107395591
I
have also just started a Blog
Blog: http://bookblogs.ning.com/profile/TomJackson
Sandra,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great Interview.
Tom