Would you say it’s been a rocky road for you in regard to getting your book written and published or pretty much smooth sailing? Can you tell us about your journey?
It would have been easier to push an elephant in a wheel-barrow to the summit of Everest… Seriously though, the writing needed (and may still need) editing. Getting a publisher? I once asked Roald Dahl about agents and his reply cannot be printed here, so with publishers only processing offers that come via agents I was pretty much out in the cold. Luckily Jeff came along and gave me the chance to mount my story on Amazon! Self-publishing may be scorned by some but it can be the only way to soar even higher than Everest.
When not writing, what do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
I spend a lot of time in Spain whose weather and values are easier to appreciate than life in northern Europe. My daughter is a stunt-woman who led 140 horses and riders in Game Of Thrones so I find helping out with her own horses and the grand-children is plenty of fun.
What makes your book stand out from the rest?
I only hope it does! I found a very rare book about Lucy Houston who was often regarded as eccentric, but Lucy foresaw the second world war long before most and nowhere else will readers find so much detail about Lucy's great achievements including the story of her pilots over Everest.
Can you give us the very first page of your book so that we can get a glimpse inside?
1. Tiger Hill, India
February 1932
Percy Etherton had just decapitated a boiled egg when the telegram arrived. In his view, such messages were generally the heralds of grim or welcome news, so only when he had finished breakfast and was ready for either eventuality did he take a look at its contents.
Percy. I hear you are in Madras. Can you meet next Thursday at Grand Eastern Hotel Calcutta for a fine curry lunch? Then overnight train to West Bengal for weekend in the hills. Something important to discuss. Do come. RSVP. Blacker.
Etherton was a guest of the Governor of Madras at the time. He was immediately tempted to swap the equatorial heat of southern India for cooler air in the northern foothills, but for Etherton the prospect of spending some time with Colonel Blacker had to be the clincher. How could he decline an invitation from this particular friend, his former fellow officer on the Western Front? Etherton made his decision and sent his confirmation via the telegraph operator in Government House.
Now a week later, after 1500 miles of constant rail travel, a superb fish curry and a sleepless night on the overnight leg from Calcutta, Etherton was running on resilience when he alighted at Siliguri, a busy township beside the Mahananda River. Here he and Blacker transferred to the hill train of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. The so-called toy train would follow a narrow gauge track climbing and cork-screwing all of fifty scenic miles to their destination.
Once under way, Etherton began to relax. The three day marathon was nearly done as he realised with wry amusement that he was still none the wiser. Nothing of significance had been mentioned to date and he wondered if he’d been lured into all this travel merely for a lungful of fresh air? Such motivation, he decided, would be unusual for Blacker who now sat opposite, engrossed in a Penguin paperback while totally ignoring their passage through the tumbling foothills. Though renowned in Britain and India for deeds of action rather than words of questionable substance, Blacker had so far provided no details whatsoever.
For an hour, the locomotive thrust against the steep gradients and reverse zig-zags, all constructed by outstanding engineers. Then Etherton began to sense an inconsistency in their progress. He wasn’t too surprised when, after completing the loop around Agony Point, the toy train convulsed and shuddered to a halt.
As soon as the screech of brakes had faded, a lively debate began. Some passengers accused the notorious loop for straining the engine while others suggested a sacred animal might be blocking the track? Both were fair assumptions thought Etherton who stood up to look through the window. He saw no holy cows ahead and astern of the stalled train lay only a lethal coil of track on the edge of a deep chasm.
‘Whatever the reason,’ he remarked, ‘I can think of better places to break down.’
Colonel Blacker glanced up from his book. ‘A runaway here would only bring agony. If the train slips, Percy, don’t hesitate to jump.’
……………………. Etc!
If your book was put in the holiday section of the store, what holiday would that be and why?
My book is not a regular guide book for visitors to India or Nepal, but more likely it should find a place in easy-to-read, light but informative faction section. Short chapters with differing points of view should appeal to readers on the move.
Would you consider turning your book into a series or has that already been done?
I've considered this possibility from the outset. I've drafted a full-length feature screenplay following the advice of two Oscar winners and this might be re-scripted for a short series. However for iconic Everest and the drama of India the big screen seems the most logical target.
When you were young, did you ever see writing as a career or full-time profession?
As a young man I wrote articles for local newspapers and the Melbourne Age where I first met Rupert Murdoch. Years later, he embraced me in a moment of wild excitement when he won a clutch of Oscars for his Titanic triumph. In the years between I worked freelance for Peter Jackson, one of the UK's most imaginative editors who taught me a lot. Other authors, including the legendary Roald Dahl (also a pilot) and Ronald Syme (a real-life James Bond) who lived in the South Pacific writing history books for the American educational market, all of them gave me inspiration.
What’s next on your to do list?
Finding an underwriter, enlightened individual or corporation for a joint-venture to finish building a full-scale operational and new version of the magnificent biplane that made the first flight over Everest. We have a team of professional builders already working on the new fuselage and some of the world's best pilots have volunteered to fly it over Everest again when finished, followed by a tour of key trading territories in Asia , Europe and USA. A bold plan? Well, they did it in 1933 and we often indulge in nostalgia today for famous events of the past don’t we? When I was in the crew of the Flying Scotsman steam train tour of the USA, I saw how many thousands of people flocked to see the train. People rarely find something so intriguing today, so the big biplane should have a ready market.
Even Higher Than Everest is available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Even-Higher-Than-Everest-Dramatised/dp/1782226249.
