I want to probe beyond I write because I enjoy it. I’ve enjoyed a rewarding career in engineering. The “motto” of the Institution of Civil Engineers is “directing the great forces of nature for the betterment of mankind.” Well, I hope I’ve done my fair bit of that. But to describe myself as a retired civil engineer, sounds, somehow as if I’m in the past tense. I just looked up retired. It means to leave one’s job and cease to work. In terms of a place, it means quiet and secluded.
I’ve been enjoying my retirement sailing and playing golf, but how am I bettering mankind now? I’ve left my job but I’m not quiet and secluded. I don’t want to cease to work. If I think about it, it was the commuting I least enjoyed about work. There may also have been times when I thought I would have been better not toeing the corporate line, and doing what I thought was most worthwhile for everyone. I guess I’ve found a way. I can entertain you, perhaps educate you (sorry, that’s presumptive), or challenge you, perhaps? It makes me feel alive, and, there isn’t any commuting. There aren’t any timesheets to fill in either. If there are connections between civil engineering and historical fiction writing, I would say they’re both constructive and they both require problem solving. If you’re designing a bridge you have to work with the landscape, the environment and the performance required. When writing with history you have set events, places, and known characters. You have to work with history, not against it. Often the villain wasn’t caught, at least not in the time-frame of the story. So you have to look for another satisfactory ending.
I wonder why I write historical fiction. The direct answer is that I discovered my 10th great-granduncle, Sir Anthony Standen, and wanted to tell his story. That story is The Spy who Sank the Armada. I have a friend, Alan Smale, who writes alternate history. I think that must be really challenging. I prefer to research history and gently weave my story into its events, settings, and characters. My new mission statement is directing the great wealth of history for the enjoyment of readers.