Where were you born? Since how long have you been living in Northern California?
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Moved to Los Angeles for Aerospace work in 1984. Lived in Northern California since 2012.
What books do you remember reading during your childhood?
The Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes.
What inspired you to start writing Irish historical fiction?
My heritage is Irish. The Irish fight for freedom in some ways mirrors our own fight to break free of the same tyrant.
What are your hobbies? What are you passionate about? I’m
Writing novels and poems, golfing, supporting my local publisher, traveling
How did you discover that you wanted to be a "”writer?
Did very well in high school in English composition, parents both English teachers. Became an Aerospace engineer/manager for my main career and wrote poetry. When I retired from building and launching satellites I took up writing novels as a second, long awaited career.
Have you planned all the seven books in The Irish Clans?
Yes. Detailed outline of the complex storyline with research completed. Four novels published, fifth novel to be released by year end. Sixth novel written and in editing. Seventh novel half written and targeted for release by early 2023.
How much time goes into researching when writing Irish historical fiction?
Quite a lot, roughly one half the time of original writing of the novel. Need to be detailed and check sources both for historical accuracy and for the character traits of the historical characters
How would you describe your experience of being an Aerospace Manager?
Exciting and fortunate to be part of the first generation of aerospace programs. Great camaraderie of large teams of technical and programmatic pioneers forging a future in communications, earth observation and planetary probing in the heavens!
Do you ever plan to write a book on satellite systems?
Some day. Lots of ideas.
What would be a good book to read for someone who loves reading history?
Irish history - suggest reading ‘Ireland, The Novel’ by Frank Delaney. This gives a wonderful story of early Irish history and mythology as recounted by an Irish seanchai (storyteller).
What historical facts sound fake but aren't?
History is written by the victors of conflicts and is therefore not necessarily true (what happened). That 60 million people died in the Second World War. We are in jeopardy of fiction displacing fact and science in our modern world given the instantaneous, ubiquitous, unfettered communications systems that I helped to proliferate.
What are the challenges of maintaining a weekly blog?
Discipline, research, feedback
How many plot ideas are just waiting to be written? Can you tell us about one?
In general, endless. For me, several. I live in the Motherlode foothills of California where the gold rush occurred in the 1850-60s. Now there’s a subject with a goldmine of possibilities.
How long have you been with AllAuthor now and what are some of your thoughts on it?
Joined just recently. Seems like a very helpful and informative platform for presenting authors and their work. Thank you.
