David Rashleigh was born in Bedford, England, a descendent of a branch of the Rashleigh family that still inhabits Menabilly, near Fowey in Cornwall. Aged 13, he won a scholarship to be educated at Bedford School. Following spectacularly bad A-level results, he spent a year travelling the world with the merchant navy, during which time he saw an awful lot of water. This was followed by a career in the RAF, best described as "inglorious and short". Eventually, he found his niche as a railway signalling engineer, at which he has enjoyed significantly greater success.
His career as an author is entirely accidental. An interest in history and especially how it surrounds us every day led to the idea for Sciron: writing the book was greatly helped by having a separate study and a deep dislike of soap operas and "reality" television. The dramatis personae in Sciron are not based on any real people, although David could not resist inflicting some facets of his own personality on more than one of the characters. Naturally, he will not own up to which people he has blessed in this manner. Prospective readers should, however, note that Sciron is not in any way a funny book. Apart from the bit where...but that would be telling.
Besides history, David's interests include aviation (he holds a rarely-used private pilot's licence) and target shooting; the latter largely to impress his daughter's boyfriends with his easy-going but protective nature.
David first visited Lancashire (the location for much of Sciron) in 1985, intending to stay for just one week. He is still there. He lives in Penwortham with his wife and two children.
His career as an author is entirely accidental. An interest in history and especially how it surrounds us every day led to the idea for Sciron: writing the book was greatly helped by having a separate study and a deep dislike of soap operas and "reality" television. The dramatis personae in Sciron are not based on any real people, although David could not resist inflicting some facets of his own personality on more than one of the characters. Naturally, he will not own up to which people he has blessed in this manner. Prospective readers should, however, note that Sciron is not in any way a funny book. Apart from the bit where...but that would be telling.
Besides history, David's interests include aviation (he holds a rarely-used private pilot's licence) and target shooting; the latter largely to impress his daughter's boyfriends with his easy-going but protective nature.
David first visited Lancashire (the location for much of Sciron) in 1985, intending to stay for just one week. He is still there. He lives in Penwortham with his wife and two children.
Scrion
How can a ghost haunt the top floor of a new building?
A murder victim’s spirit cannot escape the former railway line where he worked and was killed. Other victims of the same incident haunt a young Yorkshire man. A former soldier is researching his father’s disappearance when he stumbles across a wartime act of sabotage. A young couple and their son, unaware of the history of the huge stone wall that faces their flat, receive terrifying visitations. But who was the spy, codenamed Sciron, who was responsible for destruction, betrayal and death?
How can a ghost haunt the top floor of a new building?
A murder victim’s spirit cannot escape the former railway line where he worked and was killed. Other victims of the same incident haunt a young Yorkshire man. A former soldier is researching his father’s disappearance when he stumbles across a wartime act of sabotage. A young couple and their son, unaware of the history of the huge stone wall that faces their flat, receive terrifying visitations. But who was the spy, codenamed Sciron, who was responsible for destruction, betrayal and death?
Do you write under your actual name or a pen name, and is there any special
meaning behind your name?
Er,
both. David Rashleigh was the name that I was born with but my parents
separated when I was young and my stepfather adopted me, leaving me with
a different surname. I decided to go back to my original name for
writing purposes in order to re-establish that link with my past.
What are the names of your main characters and what can you tell us about them?
The
central character is Jack Rimmer, an ex-soldier turned military
historian in his mid sixties. Steve and Katie Melling, along with their
son Joshua are the residents of a flat central to the plot: they are
Lancashire working-class folk just doing their best to get by. Cedric
Morgan is an elderly former MI5 officer who...well, you’ll have to find
that out for yourself!
Do their names have special significance
to your story or were they just names that you liked?
Generally, the names are common ones in the area in which the story is set. Otherwise, they just sounded right.
What are some fictional names of
places where your characters’ stories unfold?
There are none! Every location of every scene is a real place.
Creating a fictional story in a real setting can be a lot of work. Did you enjoy the research?
I greatly enjoyed making
sure that the technical details of the story were correct. For instance,
there is a scene in which Jack Rimmer is reading a newspaper from the
1940s and I have been able to describe the advertisements on the page
simply because they are real!
Thanks for sharing!
Find David Rashleigh all across the interwebs....
Don’t forget to check out the Indie Giveaway for a chance to
win an ebook of David's novel, Scrion, along with 10 more awesome ebooks by some
great indie authors! Scrion is also available in paperback, and is one of the three print books offered in the second drawing, along with a $20 Amazon card!
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