Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is the first of three books that I’ve published so far, all covering the same period, the mid-19th-century in England and Australia. I’ve always had a strong interest in history, particularly mediaeval Scottish history and the 19th-century British Empire, when so much was happening that affects our lives today. I like to paint a picture with words, I’ve been told that, at times, my style is quite Dickensian with its atmospheric portrayal of foggy days and the dangerous London streets and slums. If so, I’ve achieved one of my aims.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is ‘Bushranger Gold’. It’s about a notorious event that received a lot of coverage at the time although it is forgotten today – the hold-up of a gold escort near Melbourne in the mid-19th-century. It was, in some ways, the Great Train Robbery of its day and there are many twists and turns to the story which is what makes it so fascinating. While Ned Kelly is the archetype of the bushranger and he is known the world over, Frank Gardiner preceded him. He was probably the first “celebrity” bushranger and part of the story covers his early life. I first came across this event when researching my series, “The Helots’ Tale” which is all about the lives of my wife’s great great great grandparents who were transported to Australia in the 1830s –now that’s a real story of triumph over adversity.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know how you would describe unusual in that every author probably has their own way of going about things but I find that once I start writing the story – after having done my research – it tends to take on a life of its own. Sometimes it goes places I never imagined when I started and it can be quite exciting and even thrilling to follow the story along. I write when the muse catches me rather than dedicating a specific time to write but I find that once I get started, a few hours can pass very quickly.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was quite young, Charles Dickens was undoubtedly the greatest influence. His storytelling and the way he created three-dimensional pictures has never left me as it has never left the world at large of course. Arthur Conan Doyle with his Sherlock Holmes stories were a staple as I grew up and more recently, Nigel Tranter with his stories about Scottish mediaeval history has been an influence – particularly his Robert the Bruce trilogy. I also thoroughly enjoy the works of CJ Sansom.
What are you working on now?
I’m staying in the mid-to late 19th century in Australia. Melbourne this time, where I’m creating a detective story that will weave fact with fiction. I have the plot developed but it’s early days at the moment as I start building the characters. I’m looking forward to where the story is going to lead me.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Most of my life I have spent working as a business executive or serving on not-for-profit boards. So promotions have been things done on behalf of others not myself. Ask me any year or two and I’ll have a better answer!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Start! There are always a thousand reasons why you don’t write and a thousand other things that you need to be doing. But if you have a book in you, you owe it to yourself (and your potential readers) to put pen to paper or, these days, finger to keyboard, or perhaps voice to microphone. If it is to be, you will find that, magically, the pages begin to grow and the book begins to grow on you.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have benefited many times over from the advice of others but perhaps the single thing that has stuck is ‘do what you say you will do’. My family motto stretching back through the centuries is “Semper Fidelis’ – the US marines have adopted it too, but we were there first! It means ‘Always Faithful’ and that, too has been a watchword that dovetails well with that advice.
What are you reading now?
Currently reading “Lord of the Isles” by Nigel Tranter – the story of Somerled, founder of the Scottish clans, MacDonald, MacDougall, McDonnell and McAllister. As somebody once said, you can take the boy out of Scotland but you can’t take Scotland out of the boy!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m really looking forward to writing my next book. It will be a change of pace in that the “hero” will be a work of fiction unlike the three books I’ve already written which are based on real lives. It will still require research because I’m going to weave historical events and real people into the story but it will provide much more room for my imagination!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A Christmas Carol by Dickens because Christmas will always be a special time, a Sherlock Holmes anthology (cheating here as that covers all the stories), the Bruce trilogy (another multi-book selection I’m afraid) and a thick self-help book of some kind because I’m sure I would need it!
Author Websites and Profiles
David Cairns of Finavon Amazon Profile
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