Whilst watching a young lad with cart horse, George Orwell wondered. ‘What if the animal was aware of its size?’ Book ideas can emerge from the strangest sources.

 

When I began thinking about a subject for a fifth book, my thoughts jumped back forty years to a summer day in 1976. I was studying an eclectic mix of subjects for my A-levels (old style exams that were taken between finishing school and starting university) which included art, history and biology. Part of the latter required a practical research project. It had to be original and like many of my fellow students, I struggled to think of anything new. There I was, hanging at the back of the queue whilst the lecturer recorded each student’s choice. The class had a large fish tank and I happened to notice that one fish was upside down. The decision was made and I chose to explore how cells decay. My lecturer stared at me in a moment of bewilderment before checking her records.  No one else had chosen to study that subject and it was duly written down. I spent the summer thinking about how to turn that idea into reality before actually writing a proposal two days before term was due to begin.

 

I spent the best part of year on that project, which included a visit to a very unusual farm where they studied how bodies decay over many years. I think it was late autumn because it was quite cold when around ten assembled at a gate that led to a small wood. The group was given a brief overview of the work they carried out followed by a warning that few of us would make to the end of the walk.

What I saw amongst the trees and ferns inspired a short outline, which I put away whilst I mulled over the idea for a few months. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be a natural choice as my first and second books, The Condyne Paradox and Noril’sk, are both loosely about how life begins.

 

I began to develop the story in 2010 before having to focus on other publishing projects. Seven years later and finally, Harvest of minds is available for pre-order.

 

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