Today we talk about The Parchment, a book by Peter Deakin published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Peter Deakin to get to know him better, where he found the inspiration to write his book The Parchment, as well as the message he wants to send out with his Writing
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Where did you find the inspiration to write this book?
The book principally arose from two separate inspirations: Firstly, I was inspired many years ago by Kenneth Clark’s wonderful book “Civilisation”, which vividly described the battle that Western Civilisation had to survive all the challenges thrown at it over the centuries to produce some of the greatest outpourings of original art and thought in history. Secondly, I was inspired by my visit to St Anthony’s Monastery in Egypt, which has been continually occupied since the 4th Century, despite its remote location in the middle of the Eastern Desert. I was so impressed by the fact that those humble monks had been able to survive in such a hostile place whilst so many worldly empires have come and gone around them, that I decided to write a story that starts inside the monastery to celebrate their achievement. Although I do not practice any religion, I am a firm believer in what religion stands for as long as extremism and fundamentalism are moderated. We have very few real heroes in the world now and I was hoping to describe characters who, in their own individual ways, are to be admired. Writers like George Orwell and Umberto Eco were also influential in inspiring me to turn to fiction to try to send out an entertaining yet meaningful message of hope to counteract the prevailing mood of gloom and impending disaster.
- What is the message you want to send out with your Writing?
My primary aim was to create an adventure story that tried to describe and help in understanding what enabled a small group of good people to survive when, like then, we still see so much around us that is evil and destructive. I want people to enjoy a good read, but at the same time I hope to influence people to pause and think about what is happening in the world, to try to make them realise that many of the issues we are grappling with today have arisen before and humanity managed to solve them. I do not want to enter the political arena, but I do think that we in the West should not take our comfortable existence for granted as, like in the Dark Ages, there are many external threats and internal divisions that are working to undermine many of the pillars of Western Civilisation, that were instrumental in our achieving the success we still enjoy. We ignore the lessons of history at our peril.
- How did your passion for writing start?
I have been a scribbler for as long as I can remember, with boxes beyond count filled with notes, ideas, quotations and aphorisms. I have recorded 62 chapters of stories from my life and have published two works of non-fiction. In addition, I have cartons of poetry, short stories and snippets from unfinished novels, most of which will probably never be in a fit state to be published. As I have explained on the cover, “The Parchment” remains my only completed novel and I found the whole writing experience incredibly stimulating when I removed myself from my work as a lawyer and travelled through the areas described in the book, trying to unearth any identifiable places that existed in the 7th Century. Once the juices started to flow, the rudiments of the story all came out in a rush with all the ideas and speeches that are littered through the book stored away somewhere in my brain, waiting to be divulged.
- How was your publishing experience?
I did try to find a publisher in Australia and received many encouraging knock-backs before turning to Europe books, who have been extremely professional and supportive. As it turns out, I am much better off having the book published in Europe because of the much larger potential readership and it is also likely to be of greater interest to Europeans, (particularly Italians) because of the areas traversed in the story. I also have a very enthusiastic literary agent in New York who is a great fan of the book.
- Are you planning to write more books? Can you tell us more about it?
I have another novel in the pipeline, set in modern-day Sydney, with the story narrated through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. I can send the opening chapter if you are interested as it does set the scene fairly well for what is to follow, but at the moment it is only about 50 pages long, so there is a lot of work to do. The best of my poetry would be able to be published and would easily fill a small volume if you think there may be a market for it. I also have a completed collection of aphorisms, quotations, trivia and original thoughts on a wide range of topics that I have called “Sententia” which I am happy to send through if requested. It is over 200 pages long and would need some professional editing.
Europe Books thanks the author Peter Deakin once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book The Parchment. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my readers, I hope that this book will amuse your reading and that at the same time it will provide you with food for thought to reflect upon in relation to a too “comfortable” West today and on which we should not relax too much because there are many external threats and internal divisions , as past history teaches us.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!