Frank Parker - Interview with an Author of Great Historical Fiction
You were an engineer before you retired, but when did you actually start writing, and why? I wrote on and off throughout my adult life. I started doing it seriously – as my main occupation – after retirement at an online magazine called Suite101 (I think that's where we first encountered each other!) This was 2010 and about the same time I heard of a local writers' group and joined them. It was all good experience and encouragement. Was it something you always wanted to do from childhood? Absolutely. When I left school I thought I might join the local weekly newpaper as a junior reporter. I was told that only a handful of those who became reporters actually made it as professional writers. “Get a trade: you can always try writing later, then if you don't succeed you'll have the trade to fall back on”. So I took up an apprenticeship as a Mechanical Engineer. Your blog says you "retired" to Ireland. Are you actually Irish? No....