First,
what inspired me to write?
Well I think I have always wanted to create
. . . to share my thoughts, even as a child I took pleasure in writing - 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. My preference is undoubtedly for the cocktail of adventure/mystery/crime.
For example, I enjoy Agatha Christie, Alistair McLean, Robert Ludlum, Frederick
Forsyth and Ken Follett. Although I do have a decided passion for historical
novelists such as Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice is my all-time favourite
novel), C.S. Forester, John Buchan, and naturally, Dickens.
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.
Anyway, 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.
Secondly,
what about ‘The Devil’s Legacy’ itself?
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 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, Philip
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.
Thus,
my research gave me the germ of an idea for a work of fiction with the removal
of the Parthenon Marbles as the underlying theme - and ‘The Devil's Legacy’
was born.
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!
Tom
Jackson hails from cold and wet Manchester, England and was with a British bank
for over 30 years. He moved to Greece in 1977, met his wife (who is Greek and
an artist) and decided to remain in the land of sun and sea. He has a daughter,
Natalie, who is a lawyer, and the inspiration behind
the protagonist in his debut novel, ‘The Devil’s Legacy’.
He is already thinking about a sequel to ‘The
Devil’s Legacy’, and also has an idea for a trilogy set in nineteenth
century Greece.
Tom maintains his close links to the Greek
shipping community, posts occasional articles on financial and shipping related
matters, is enjoying his new Kindle, has started to cultivate roses, and is an
avid Manchester United supporter.
Where you can find Tom:
Also I have
also just started a Book Blog
Blog: http://bookblogs.ning.com/profile/TomJackson
Giveaway: Tom will be giving away 1 copy of his book. This will be an ebook so it is open internationally. This giveaway will be done a little differently. In order to enter you must correctly answer the question below (in the form), the answer can be found in the sample chapters of Tom's book which can be found on Smashwords (you don't need an account to read samples). I will pick randomly from the correct answers on January 17th.
Giveaway: Tom will be giving away 1 copy of his book. This will be an ebook so it is open internationally. This giveaway will be done a little differently. In order to enter you must correctly answer the question below (in the form), the answer can be found in the sample chapters of Tom's book which can be found on Smashwords (you don't need an account to read samples). I will pick randomly from the correct answers on January 17th.
1 comment:
Great giveaway! I linked to it in my blog today: http://authorjess.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-up-wednesday-giveaways-book.html
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