Touching the Rainbow
Touching the Rainbow covers the topic that mystifies every living, mortal human being, the possibility of an afterlife. What happens to us when we die? Is there a Heaven? A Hell? Or do we simply evaporate into oblivion? This is a novel that I have been researching for most of my life and even with this book I have only just managed to graze the surface. Touching the Rainbow is a story about regret, anger and bitterness and what happens when you take all these emotional problems to the grave. Do we leave them all behind or do they continue to torture us in the afterlife?
Please tell us a bit more about the character of Pete.
Metaphorically speaking, I see Pete Cooper as a twenty-first-century Frankenstein monster. In Mary Shelley's book when the monster is brought to life it sees the world as a place where it feels loathed, condemned and treated like an outcast. Then the monster seeks revenge for its cursed life by turning on its creator. Pete, too, is a monster, a psychologically-damaged monster born out of a dysfunctional family. He grows up feeling unwanted, insecure and he doesn't fit into society. In his misery he also curses his parents, his creators for bringing him into such a miserable existence. Except, with the Frankenstein monster who sees death as the ultimate cure for his malformation, death for Pete provides him with an opportunity, as a trapped soul, to seek peace and a kind of purpose that seemed to evade him in life. It is in death where we actually see the character begin to grow.
You started your first novel at age 19; please tell more us about this, and why you narrowly missed publishing it.
I started writing my first novel titled One Cold Christmas when I was nineteen, I lived with my father in an old miners' terrace on the Great Orme in Llandudno. These cottage-type homes didn't have any central heating and only had a coal fire in the living room which was supposed to heat up the whole house. I vividly recall how bitterly cold it was writing in my bedroom wearing a thick padded jacket and miser gloves; it was like something out of a Dickens novel. After I completed my first novel I sent it out to the Welsh Books Council and they took me under their wing and acted as a kind of literary agent for me. With their academic influence they managed to submit my book to many of the mainstream publishers and it was a London publisher named Gollancz who came back with a glowing response. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the changes they required in order for my book to fit their list so it never made it into print.
How much did your intensive English courses help towards getting published?
After I had completed four unpublished novels I decided that I wanted to improve my literary skills so I enlisted the services of an English tutor. I also undertook a collage course in creative writing. The reward for all this hard graft resulted in my fifth book, Flight Of The Sandpipers, being accepted for publication.
What attracts you towards screenwriting?
When I am writing a novel I see the scenes appearing in my mind filmographically. They play out like I am actually watching a movie then my literary eye takes over and paints in all the necessary detail. So, in this respect I imagine that I would find writing a film script very intriguing.
Why is it important that your readers leave their materialistic minds behind when they read your books?
What I mean by 'my readers leaving their materialistic minds behind when they read my books' is that I want them to use my stories as a form of escapism from the mundane routines, pressures and responsibilities of everyday life. Sometimes, it’s good to dream and I like to make people happy.
What is next for you?
I won't divulge too much because whenever I do I always seem to jinx it and end up writing something completely different so all I will say is I am planning to stay within the paranormal realms for a little while longer.