A writer-reader-traveler who has led quite an interesting life.

Please, introduce yourself. Tell us about your personal life, family, education.

Thanks for inviting me to be interviewed, Mary. I’m Tim Walker, now in my early 60s, semi-retired due to health reasons, living near Windsor in England, United Kingdom. I have a daughter, Cathy, currently a university student. When she was younger, we worked together on a children’s book series, the Adventures of Charly Holmes.

I was born to British parents in Hong Kong in the 1960s, went to school in Liverpool, England, in the 1970s, worked as a trainee reporter in the early 80s, attained a degree in the mid-80s, then moved to London and worked for 10 years as a marketing exec/manager in the newspaper publishing industry. In the mid-90s I went to Zambia in Africa to do two years voluntary work in educational book development before setting up and running my own publishing and marketing company in Zambia until 2009, when I returned to the UK. After a few years working for energy companies, I suffered a health crisis, and subsequently reinvented myself as a creative writer whilst convalescing at home.

What do you like doing in your spare time?

In addition to creative writing and self-publishing, I’m also involved in running a charity that helps old men called Men’s Matters, on a voluntary basis. I visit historical sites of interest, particularly if I’m researching a book, and must also confess to watching a lot of TV sport!

If you are a writer, are you an avid reader?

Yes, I read a lot of historical fiction, and recently have started listening to audiobooks. I’m currently listening to Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell. I also enjoy reading crime fiction, and I’m currently reading a paperback copy of Malcolm Hollingdrake’s Only the Dead, book one in his Harrogate crime series. Malcolm is a Facebook friend, and I requested a signed copy dedicated to my friend who lives in Harrogate, whom I’ll be visiting in July at the time of the annual Crime Book Festival. It’s all about books!

His Ultimate Goal

What is your ultimate creative goal as you see it today?

Having done film studies as part of my degree course, and co-scripted a short film, I’ve been told that my books have a strong visual quality. It’s my dream to have my Thames Valley Tales made into a TV series – now it’s an audiobook, voiced by actor Richard James, I feel this is a step in that direction. I’d also love to see a Lord of the Rings-esque film treatment of my A Light in the Dark Ages book series! Film and television producers, please get in touch….

What inspired you to write your first book?

Whilst recovering my strength after cancer treatment in 2014, I did an online creative writing course that encouraged writing short stories, ideally set in familiar locations based on familiar themes. Living in Maidenhead on the banks of the river Thames, I began reading up on local history and wrote a series of stories that formed my first book, Thames Valley Tales. Now, eight years on, I’ve revisited those stories and selected some for extensive revision for an audiobook.

Thames Valley Tales led me onto researching and writing a history-meets-legend book series, A Light in the Dark Ages. The idea came to after visiting the site of a former Roman town not far from where I live, Silchester in Hampshire. It was once the former Roman walled town of Calleva Atrebatum, and I wrote Abandoned in 2015, loosely based on my imaginative answer to the question, “What would have happened to the inhabitants of the town after the Romans departed around the year 410?”

Abandoned set a research ball rolling that crashed into accounts of a historical King Arthur and resulted in Ambrosius: Last of the Romans (2017); Uther’s Destiny (2018); Arthur Dux Bellorum (2019) and Arthur Rex Brittonum (2020).

About Writing Style

How do you decide on the title of a book?

A book title is a label that should give an indication of the subject matter. Thames Valley Tales is a description of what’s inside the book, but also signals its fiction and short stories. ‘Abandoned’ intends to convey a sense of terror or jeopardy to the reader, and, allied to the cover image, signals it being an historical thriller.

Have you developed a specific writing style and why?

Given my background as a journalist and report writer, my first attempts at creative writing were perhaps formal and staid. On the plus side, I already had a good command of written English and had few fears or doubts when I tried my hand at creative writing. I knew I would have to develop a more informal, easy to read style for writing fiction. My background in reporting is fine for writing descriptive passages, but I took the advice of my creative writing course to listen to conversations in coffee shops to help in writing convincing dialogue between characters. This is a skill that must be learnt through listening, observation, and practice.

Who is your favorite writer, and what is it about their work that really strikes you?

I enjoy reading historical fiction and my favourites in this genre include Hilary Mantel at the literary end of the spectrum, and Bernard Cornwell at the popular action-and-adventure end. Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy is a masterclass in well researched historical detail mixed with an interpretation and assumptions of the lives of real historical figures, presented in a series of life-or-death dramas in the court of King Henry VIII. Brilliant. As for Bernard Cornwell, I love the sweep of his imagination in bringing historical, quasi-historical or invented characters to life, and his brilliant battle scenes.

Do you remember the first book you read?

The first book I read that left a deep impression on me was Rosemary Sutcliffe’s Eagle of the Ninth. This story set in Roman Britain fascinated me and was the starting point of a love of history and historical fiction.

Favorite Authors

Is there an author, past or present, you would love to meet? Why?

William Shakespeare, or the Earl of Oxford? I’d love to have been in Elizabethan London at the time the plays of Shakespeare were first performed, and to have had an insight into who actually wrote them. A recent television documentary made a compelling case for those Shakespeare plays that were set in mainland Europe having coincided with places visited by Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. De Vere was a talented poet. As for William, the man from Stratford, there is no evidence for him ever having left England. There is a tantalising case for de Vere having passed his manuscripts on to William Shakespeare for him to publish and perform in his own name, thus saving the earl from the wrath of Queen Elizabeth, who would have disapproved.

When you see new authors struggling, what single piece of advice could you give them on a moment’s notice?

Take a break. I have previously taken a break from writing a novel to write a short story, as a distraction that can then revitalise me for a fresh push on completing a novel. I particularly found my 2021 dual timeline novel, Guardians at the Wall, frustrating and troubling, due to its complex two-story structure. I would leave it for a week or two and turn my mind to writing a short story, then return to it, with sleeves rolled up for another crack at it.

Do you have a blog or website viewers can visit for updates, events and special offers? Include links to any and all of your sites.

Website and blog: http://timwalker1666.wixsite.com/website

Amazon author page: http://Author.to/TimWalkerWrites

Goodreads author page: https://goodreads.com/author/show/678710.Tim_Walker

Apple, Nook, Kobo author page: https://books2read.com/ap/ngjpb2/Tim-N-Walker