We are very pleased to have a visit from writer Michael Macauley, author of
Dangerous Chimes & The Unleashing series...
Michael will be talking about being a writer and how to develop plot and character. He will regale us with episodes from Dangerous Chimes and will be able to answer questions and provide signed copies.
We have negociated a special discounted rate of £5 per paperback for Mount girls and staff (50% discount).Welcome to drama, humour, witchcraft, adventure, revenge, and sudden death… Well, not always all that sudden, what with the crows…It is the Autumn of 1783.Life as a pirate is becoming increasingly difficult for JASPER DE QUINCEY SCABBARD, knight baronet, and Captain of the heavily armed brigantine, the Black Leopard. With the American War of Independence concluded both British and French fleets are more effectively protecting their shipping and territories. Now an English squadron is scouring the seas for those of Jasper’s profession and his name is high on their hit list. With buccaneering opportunities becoming few, and determined to avoid capture and execution and if possible save his crew, Sir Jasper has selected what he believes to be a rich and easy target to provide sufficient plunder to round off his career.
A normally shrewd strategist and tactician, and an extremely intelligent and rational representative of the Age of Enlightenment, he naturally disregards references to superstitions in his research. And so, sadly for you Sir J., this project is not going to be quite the walkover you had hoped for….
The initial telling of the ‘provenance’ of the story and the citing of references was very well done and intriguing. The dialogue between James Boswell and Doctor Johnson when they were stranded on the island was very skilled, funny, and believable, and the author has done his research, knows his real history, and has created a believable fantasy eighteenth century town. It has a slight Terry Pratchett feel about it which I liked, but the plot is unusual enough not to be seen as derivative.
–Writearound
It is brilliant. It sets off at a gallop and stays there. So many characters, so much action, so much invention. The joy of the book, other than the pace, the convolutions, the wit, and the insight, is its joyously conceived plot.
–David Llewellyn
…real authentic detail, vivid, entertaining, great characters and dialogue, great world, great jokes, and a believable fantasy eighteenth century town…
–Tash Bell
Writer BIO
Retired Marketing and Management Minion, Michael Macauley is rumoured to have had access to a time portal, hence his copies of the Fartledale Post and Intelligencer for September 1783, What Broomstick Magazine, and the WI (Witches Institute) Halloween minutes. Certainly he is the current custodian of Miss Minima, the smallest of the very dangerous Bells of Goldcaster – ring Miss M only under supervision. Her effect is not long lived but can be disastrous for the ringer.
Star sign: Gemini
Inspirations: C.J.Sansom , Osbert Sitwell, Flann O’Brien, Alan Coren, M.R.James, P.G. Wodehouse, Thorne Smith, Terry Pratchett, Anthony Powell, A.C.Grayling, Samuel Johnson, Tom Paine, Conan Doyle, Dornford Yeats, Marjory Allingham, Spike Milligan, Thomas Love Peacock, Evelyn Waugh, G.K Chesterton, Alan Bennett, William Cobbett, Jeffrey Bernard, Dylan Thomas, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, John Betjeman, Adrian Mitchell, and aunt Dorothy Parker et al..
Favourite books: Essays of Michel de Montaigne , Making of the British Landscape by Francis Dyer, Pragmatism by William James, The Plain Speaker by William Hazlitt, Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Graham Green’s Collected Essays, Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, A Week on the Concord by Henry Thoreau, History of England and Essays by T.B.Macauley, the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, the 1724 Lives of the most Notorious Pyrates, and The Prince by Machiavelli, and Casanova by Derek Parker.
Favourite films: ‘Some Like it Hot’ and the original ‘Italian Job’ (‘You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!’)
Favourite car: 1934 12hp Lanchester saloon with Daimler engine, preselector gearbox, Mulliner coachwork, proper running boards, and a wind up windscreen – very useful on cold evenings because there was no heater, and so a paraffin stove, lashed ‘safely’ to the rear seats was carried, but this gave off offensive fumes and the draught from the front window was essential for survival.
Favourite food: Wife’s chilli, shepherd pies, outstanding roasts, and delicious sandwiches for support of battered muse.
Favourite places: Headland Warren on Dartmoor, Cavtat in Croatia, St.Gilgen in the Austrian lakes, Gavignana in Central Tuscany, and Milton Keynes railway station at the end of any long return journey.
Favourite things: Sunset over Dartmoor, laughter of family members, the Eighteenth Century, ‘C Jam Blues’ played by Dutch Swing College Band, ‘Royal Garden Blues’ by Bix Beiderbecke, Gadfly Suite by Shostakovich, ‘Your Song’ by Elton John, ‘Kyrie’ from Mozart’s ‘Grosse Mass in C minor’, and being purred asleep by our cat Mr.Tibbs.
Biggest challenge: A: Abandoning Quill Pen for iPad Tablet (still learning) B. On behalf of my son fighting a four and a half year battle with a blinkered, incompetent, and malicious major government department and their foul parasitic private contractor (who is paid millions to profit from the pain of suffering subjects). We fought through all layers of appeal and finally won our case, with the Senior Judges issuing an outstanding condemnation of our opponents, gloriously stuffing the bastards.
Things I've learned: Ignorance breeds Fear; Knowledge gives Strength; Experience can teach Wisdom and, (Wake up at the back!) NEVER GIVE UP…
