Dammit! I really can't put my
finger on any Eureka! moment that led me to write a book. I find I sort of
drift around picking up ideas as I go. I find I'm happy at the moment to
continue to write sequels to the Cadet Willie McBride and Brilliant Mr Badger stories
both of which give me sufficient scope to indulge in my fatherly military and
political fantasies. I think violence should be avoided wherever possible, so
the central guiding philosophy for my stories is, 'Combat power
wins battles, Diplomacy wins wars'.
I think I may be some sort of
closet educationalist for boys and young men and this inclination probably
started me off to stitch a few words together. Throughout my military, museum
and civil defence careers I've had to train/teach a lot of people, young and
old, and so had to knock up some suitable scenarios at the drop of a hat. I do a
lot of research for each story and map it out chapter by chapter. I get a lot
of inspiration from films. I loved the earlier Harry Potter films. The idea of
being transported off to another magical world really appeals to me and so I
built that idea into my Cadet Willie McBride stories. I'm also an admirer
of Roald Dahl and where possible try to emulate his style. Dahl's'
Fantastic Mr Fox' inspired me to write' Brilliant Mr Badger' with my trademark
Army Cadets twist. I read the New Scientist magazine for new inventions and
science discoveries for the Cadet Willie McBride books.
I'm happy to write fictional
military adventure stories for military cadets. That's my genre and comfort
zone. It's a small market (about 100,000 in UK, 20,000 each in Australia
and Canada , about 500,000 in the US and just 4000 in NZ). but that's my market
I write for. My websites are http://www.coloneldearing.com/
and http://www.brilliantmrbadger.com
(for very junior cadets!)
What about you? Have you had any
'Eureka' moments?'
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