Daniel Peter Buckley

My childhood was spent originally in Rochdale, Lancashire. We lived first on Ludgate Road and later Gainsborough Drive on Kirkholt an estate built in the summer of 1945 by German prisoners of war. History is all around us we all have our own history and are a part of it. Until I was asked to provide this interview I had no idea that in circa 1100 A.D. the Knights of ST John of Jerusalem known as the Hospitallers had once been resident on land that was in later times to become Kirkholt. In 1100 A.D. The Knights were posted to guard the ancient district known then as Buersil My own family name also had connections with this period a region of the area was called in ancient times Buckley a site settled ny Anglo Saxon settlers the place was then known by the name Hundersfield. When the Norman knights arrived with William the conquerer forces Buckley was ceded to a knight Geoffrey De Buckley he took the name of the lands he was awarded for his service during the many battles fought by the Normans. From that fate on they assimilated with the local people in the area and continued to live in Buckley. Members of the family fought in the battle of Evesham in 1265 A.D. A Geoffrey De Buckley served as a captian and was killed in the bloody battle. An East window in Worcester Cathedral is dedicated to the souls of Ralph and Geoffrey De Buckley and their wives Katherine and Alice. A John De Buckley is recorded during the reign of Edward 111 circa 1327 -1377 A.D Later another John De Buckley served in the English civil war as a colonel in the roundheads army. He was mentioned during the siege of Altham circa 1643 A.D. Everybody as a history we all add to that when we journey through life and time. Some care to ignore history but for me it forms the secure platform from which I can produce the many ideas that drives my writing forwards. One of the biggest changes in my life saqw my family move from Rochdale a large town near Manchester to Budleigh Salterton a small town on the East Devon coastline. We swapped a townhouse for a farm cottage set beside the river Otter with views of the sea from the main bedroom window. Life was slower paced and the setting was idyllic the summers seemed short and the winters long. We had spent manyJune holidays in Budleigh visiting my fathers parants now we lived in the seaside resort. One thing remained the football we played every night on Granary lane and soon we were joined by new friends who shared the same love for football. Today I can remember the names of all those who joined us Robin and Nicky Marker, Mike Colin and Kevin Kemble and Martin Vanstone. Me and brother Stephen and my sister Michelle spent our summers walking the varied clifftop walks that ran in one direction to Sidmouth and the other towards Sandy bay in the direction of Exmouth. Long summer days exploring the coast and the varied attractions around Devon. Bicton gardens among them the mudeum in Budleigh was a place I called in frequently after the long walk from South farm beside the River Otter past the cricket gtounds and then along the long promonade and past the beach front cafe that served great cakes and Devon cream and strawberryjam scones in summer and along the beachside promonade with views over the pebbled beach out to sea and left and right the Jurrasic cliffs towered up towards the sky. On those cliff tops you could see the varied fishing boats sailing boats and tankers in the wide Lyme bay with the East devon golf links behind you as you walked towards Sanby bay, We would walk out as a family and later on our own. Those days are logged in my memory banks along with the SaltertonArms the pub I has my first ever beer with my dad. We would visit Plymouth usually attending the Navy Days when the fighter jets would perform fly pasts over the dockyards and you got to visit the varied Royal Navy Frigates Submarines and Aircraft carriers. Jets used the cliffs near Budleigh for their low altitude practice attack runs the noise as they banked over the cliffs and hugged the land passing over your head was amazing and breathtaking. Today the Salterton remains a thriving part of the Budleigh Salterton pub scene and visiting Budleigh along with the Feathers a port of call. East Budleigh being the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh you have the Walter Raleigh Pub. Walter Raleigh famously painted looking from Budleigh Saltertons sea front out towards the English channel. Whilst in Otterton you have the King William set near the river Otter. This was our world we kept chickens in the large cottage garden and would sell them to the passing walkers and tourists who could not resisr our cardboard sign offering free range bantam eggs. My brother Stephen and sister Michelle attended the local junior school whilst I went to the comprehensive middle and high school in Exmouth a dive mile journey by bus. My Mother Doreen worked as an ancillary nurse in the local cottage hospital and my father also called Daniel worked on the farm owned by the Pyne Family Fred his sons Colin, Rodney and Robin all worked on the farm. My interest in history really began in an English lesson the teacher had recently returned from a trip to Crete and whilst there they visited the palace of Knossos a visit that had inspired them so much they shared the visit during a lesson and invited us all to pen an essay on the Minoans and Knossos. That day inspired me and my life long facination with the Minoan world and history was born. One day I told myself I would visit the island of Crete and see the palace of Knoosos. Books were always in the family home both my parants read books from varied genres and this encourage us to share that appreciation of books in general. We moved back to Rochdale in 1978 to live on the same street as my Grandmother Mary King after my Grandfather William J King passed away. One of my earliest short stories covers the event which happened whilst he was visiting us in Budleigh. He was a soldier in WW11 and served in India and France where he was among those who survived the deadly retreat from France from the beaches of Dunkirk that claimed the lives of his friends in arms.

During my school years my favourite authors penned books on nature like Tarka the Otter by Henry Williamson. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Sicania Rising was my first novel based on the Battle of Camicus between the Minoans and Sicanians and other ancient world powers and due to it being my first novel I self published via Createspace. Some of the best authors around started by self publishing their own works. My advice to all new authors would be always believe in your work because others will be influenced by the enthusiasm you display promoting your books.

Literary pilgrimages is a great question never thought about it to be honest but when I think back yes I have. I visited Stratford to see the final resting place of Shakespeare in the Holy Trinity Church Stratford. Also visited Dublin with my sister and called in to see the book of kells in Trinity collcge in the old iconic Library which was breathtaking.

I buy both formats and love to go exploring in the book shops in Manchester, York, Littleborough and whenever I travel. I publish in both formats and buy both formats for research for my new books and to add to my own library of ancient history books.

My latest book will be released this November hopefully its a book I have wanted to write for many years on the followers of Apollo. Titled '' SOLDIERS OF APOLLO'' it examines the famous figures in history who made pilgimages to Delphi to seek an audience with the deity and how their belief in Apollo shaped their fate and future lives. Each figure forms a chapter of the book and they include Philosophers, Warriors , Kings, Princes , Statesmen, Emperors Poets Tyrants and Lawgivers and priests. Apollo's sacred sites around the ancient world are also covered in the book alonf with the deities spiritual imapct and influence on the formation and expansion of the Greek world its culture people and city states around the ancient world.

City Life York was inspired by my many visits to the city which began back in the eighties and today the city still holds a spell on me and thousands of people who visit the city from all corners of the globe. For anyone interested in history it offer a rich choice of museums covering all the varied time periods the peoples and cultures who shaped the city and its history. Great cafe bars, Restaurants and pubs complment the history of the walled city that retains its past ti,e periods within the architecture of its ancient buildings ,streets and squares.

Where to start with Greece and Italy because of their history both countries have attracted settlers and visitors throughout history. All the varied waves of settlers have added to the rich and complex history of both lands. Western culture in general owes a great debt first to the Minoans and the later Myceneans who shaped the Greek world and its culture during their expansion around the ancient world. Minoan culture provided the blueprint for the Greek and Roman empires that followed. Personally my visits to Greece, italy and Sicily provides the inspiration for many of my books and writing. Trips to Mycenae , Asine, Tiryns, Argos,Nafplion, Athens and Delphi are awe inspiring with fantastic views of ancient temples fortified sites and informative museums. Crete and the palace sites of Knossos , Phaistos , Kydonia and the Minoan artifacts displayed in the museums of Heraklion , Aghios Nickolaos , Sitea and Chania. Travelling by ferry and fast cats to see the islands of Santorini , Paros , Naxos , Aegina , Mykonos. Stunning views of the varied islands you pass on route and the blue skies above you and the blue Mediterranean sea beneath you.

Being my first book it originally had a different title and was to be the first of a two part series of books on the power of religion on culture in the ancient world. When researching the book when the varied ancient Sumerian and Mesopotamian city states all shared a common theme and similar beliefs. Sites such as Urkesh facinated me by their complex beliefs and their ability to influence and expand their own culture by marriage alliances and with their military prowess they could offer security in return to the city states of Mesopotamia they allied themselves with. Shared belief systems allowed the varied city states to form alliances in time that served both parties interests. Exploring the city states and the sacredness with which the ancient cultures held mountains and peak sanctuaries pointed to the powerful hold this had upon them and this drove their belief systems when they migrated from the mountains they called home to settle new lands beside the life giving great rivers of Mesopotamia they still retained their own beliefs in theie old lands mountain ranges and peak sanctuaries which they replicated in their temples and palaces build to honour their deities. Volcanic regions produced a similar belief system with the added influence of fire gods. So beliefs in the deities of Heaven and Earth changed in Time. In the ancient world the deities of the heavens dictated what happened to those who worked the earth and how they lived such was their power however the power of the earth deities connected with fertility and the crops increased due to the increase in numbers of those who now lived a settled life and abandoning their old semi nomadic hunting communities that would roam the varied mountain plains and valleys in pursuit of their prey they chose to settle in the many new city states and towns that developed beside the life giving waters of the great twin rivers of Mesopotaqmia the Tigris and Euphrates. Heaven Earth and Time is a journey through the ancient world exploring the cities their cultures and beliefs as they developed and expanded around the world. All the belief systems paid homage to the power of mother nature and the deities that shaped their worlds and lives.

Table 42 the idea was created whilst watching football in a pub that served sunday roast dinners. Watching the game I noticed a couple had ordered a meal on the table to the side of me. By the time the game had finished three different sets of people had sat at Table 42 all very different in age style appearance and dress. It hit me that I knew nothing about who these people were what they did or what they where capable of doing? You never know who your stood or sat drinking beside in the city or town centre this set me off thinking of a theme for a short story centred around Table 42 the Good the Bad and the Ugly... Discovering the figures and sleshing out their reason for being in the restaurant and the backdrop to the events that mattered to them was the next process. Srarting with a blank piece of paper makes it easier with crime fiction you have your imagination and the varied influences of police and crime thrillers and the dark noir old films which I have always been a fan of and watch while I write late into the night. With the setting beside the bottomless lake a crime based short story provided an ideal backdrop to the lighter side of the guests who also occupied Table 42 that night. Historical Fiction is much harder to produce than Factual history you have to do the same research and its got to be spot on yet you also need to fill in the gaps to give the novel and story direction whilst building the characters of your Novel and creating events and figures people can recognise or believe in.

My college days consisted of a year long Italian course which I signed up for and gained a discount for an Archaeological course the following year. Both changed my outlook on life when I was personally a lost soul after the breakdown of my marriage An event that challenged me daily and from those dark days eventually my interest in history and archaeology saw me through the help of Family and friends look towards a new life. Meeting people in the college from France, Serbia and South America all keen to learn Italian was interesting and fun at the same time it gave me a release from work and my other established interests in football and the Gym. Caroline the french girl from a wealthy background who could ski off piste was an influence she appears in my book Mirror Image such was my allure to her looks and accent. During the course she helped me with my daughters school project offering her input which was very much appreciated by my daughter at the time. We would call in the local pub after the Italian classes to relax with a drink before going our seperate ways into the dark night and home. Without both courses the writing would never have developed my liking for the written word was born during the Italian lessons and course and it was tested by the written essays we had to produce on the Archaeology course which I have the certificate at home.

Each day I plan to sit down and write for a couple of hours its not always possible but if you get an idea that inpires me I will carry on until its eithrer penned or punched into my laptop time does not matter when your on a roll you have to go with it forget spellings and sentence construction your editor and your formatter can correct the finished work spell checker will not nor will auto editing only trust yourself and your editors work would always be my advice. Writing can energize you when your enthused by ideas and it inpires you to continue but afterwards you experience a dip a low in your mood thats the time you need to switch off listen to music watch a film or escape by going for a walk or spending time watching live comedy or the theatre with a few drinks of choice break the routine.

Because I started later in life its difficult to pinpoint the advice precisely however one piece of advice was be to produce as many Ebooks as possible the more books you produce the better chance you have of selling them spread the net far and wide and make social media work for you by running adverts for your books on varied platforms on line. Websites are a must nowadays you can create your own platform via your website and Wordpress offer free to use platforms and have a sliding scale of upgrades depending on the budget you want for your site and always showcase your writing projects on your website promote your books and be positive and ignore negativity...AND REMEMBER THAT WRITERS ALWAYS WRITE.