Wallace Briggs (1943 – present). Happily married to Pat, who I first met at the age of eleven. We celebrated our Diamond Anniversary in Sept 2024. My formative years were experienced in and around Durham never living more than 5ml distance from the Cathedral. Married in 1964, Pat and I spent ma...Wallace Briggs (1943 – present). Happily married to Pat, who I first met at the age of eleven. We celebrated our Diamond Anniversary in Sept 2024. My formative years were experienced in and around Durham never living more than 5ml distance from the Cathedral. Married in 1964, Pat and I spent many happy years in the North East of England before employment almost took us off to emigrate to Jo'berg, South Africa. But plans were changed in the final weeks and instead the company moved our family to Sussex. After more than twenty years in Sussex, then Hampshire, employment was again responsible for the move to beautiful rural Lancashire, where we still reside. I am now retired from a long career in sales and marketing of scientific and technical products in the UK and international markets.My first Jimmy Crikey story was born one rainy day during a family holiday in Great Yarmouth, in 1975, to entertain my son and his new-found friends for an hour or so, during a heavy shower. The story expanded over the following damp afternoons in the cramped confines of a beach tent, and more and more adventures were required to keep the children entertained.Twenty years would pass before the first Jimmy Crikey story appeared in print on Amazon.During the writing of the 5th Jimmy Crikey adventure, ‘Jade the Youngest Ever Witch’, I had an ‘out of body’ experience. Jade spoke to me and admonished me for not continuing to write her story. I promised her I would write more about her story, and a short while later I entered a national competition to write a one hundred word story. The basis of that story was an inner voice, directing my actions. The story did not figure in the contest results but the kernel of ‘On the Edge’ was born, to be later developed into my psychological crime thriller: my first story aimed at an adult market. It turned out to be a finalist in the 2025 PageTurner Book Awards winning a GOLD MEDAL, and has attracted 180+ Goodreads four to five star reviews.What inspires you to write?The wonderment on the face of children obviously enjoying my stories is all the inspiration I need. It also allows me to promote ‘love not war’, ‘brain not brawn’, basic tenets of my life.Tell us about your writing process.I pick up a pen (or open a file on the laptop) and go where the mind takes me. Sometimes it goes nowhere and other times my fingers cannot keep pace with the flow of the story. I rarely know what direction the plot will take.Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?I try hard to listen to what the character says, not to put my words in his/her mouth. In recent times I had conversations with Jade, the youngest ever witch because she thought I was no longer writing her story, which she took exception to.What advice would you give other writers?I don't feel qualified to advise other writers – other than to develop a thick skin and to never stop trying. There are mountains to scale before you can reach the promised land. You may get there, but there's some fantastic scenery to take in on the way.How did you decide how to publish your books?I don't know what the mathematics is but I guess only 1 in 100,000, or even 200,000, eventually find a mainstream publisher. I am still hoping to find one because it makes a terrific difference to have a professional editing, marketing, distribution team. In the meantime, self-publishing (Amazon/Kindle) is an excellent alternative, but, unless you buy the expertise, the self-marketing and promotion is time-consuming and hard work. I had limited success with a hybrid (WEB based) publisher but there is still a great reliance on self-promotion; the bane of every self-published author .
The first in a series of seven standalone adventuresJimmy was the alien who chose to live on Earth after his Intergalactic ambassador parents died when they were overtaken by Earth’s coughs and cold...
