10 Things Author Jack McMasters Wants His Readers to Know About Him

I am a 'natural' procrastinator. I am always putting things off 'till tomorrow,' or 'until I have a little more inspiration', or more time, etc. At university I nearly founded the American Society of Procrastination, but never got around to it. It was eventually set up by someone else, but they were immediately banned for their action. I say immediately, but that would have been against the ethics of the club. Of course there are no members; application for membership immediately disqualifies the potential member. I say immediately...

I'm a lazy writer and very undisciplined. I have no set time for writing and usually work in spurts and pauses. Perhaps this was the result of trying to write while very busy just getting on with my job and my family. I thought when I retired I would treat writing as I would a new job, you know, sit down at nine a.m. and write till five, with just a short break at lunchtime. I could be much more productive if I could do that, but happily, life keeps getting in the way.

Working with my hands has always given me pleasure. I grew up on a farm and learned to care for animals, ride horses and use farm implements at an early age. I worked as a carpenter to get through college and learned about automotive systems because I couldn't afford a mechanic when I tried motor racing.

Domestic duties also give me lots of pleasure. I'm independent and love everything about looking after my house. I do all my own cleaning, washing and ironing; many of my plots have come to me while daydreaming while ironing, I've never understood the universal dislike of anything so simple and easy.

Baking or cooking, especially if I have guests to provide meals for, is something else I find very rewarding, even though I'm not particularly expert at any of it. I do like experimenting when I'm on my own to try and improve my skills; which means I've eaten some very interesting, if not delicious or well planned meals over the years.

Some of my friends might be insulted if I tried to say I was a feminist, but I've been supportive of feminism since shortly after the movement began. Perhaps not at first when the Women's Lib movement looked a little frivolous and appeared to only want to be allowed in Men Only bars, go for the top jobs in business or burn their bras. I'd always hated the double standards women had to put up with and I think I might have said I would support their cause when they aimed at everyday jobs like driving trucks or going down the mines and of course, they did that very thing. I've been a fervent supporter ever since. I hope it doesn't sound as if I'm being patronizing, it's not meant to, but I'm not quite sure why they want equality when they are so obviously superior to men in so many ways.

I built my own house when I retired. I'd wanted to for many years. I chose a design that suited my plot from a company that factory builds and erects timber frame structures. I changed it (I was a CAD designer) from a five bedroom to a three for extra large rooms and added an extra bath and walk-in wardrobe, then worked with their architect to get it through planning and building regs. I used professionals for bricklaying, roofing, electrics and some of the plumbing, but did nearly everything else, including landscaping, myself. It meant learning a new skill every couple of weeks, but was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

I wanted to study architecture when I was young (hence Arthur's profession perhaps, in Molly Fish), but the only school realistically available to me at that time was for men only, something I didn't believe in. I became a professional engineer instead and eventually found a niche that I really loved.

I'm a nomad at heart and really love travelling, but I'm not too keen on conventional holidays. Sure, sitting on a beach for a week was fine when I worked long hours and only wanted to unwind, but now I want more. Last year I drove to Denmark and stayed with a family for several months before going on to Sweden and eventually Spain, helping with work on their houses in exchange for living accommodation.