Spiral Scatch and the Contract on my Father
It’s has been an odd day. In fact, odd doesn’t even begin to cover part of it.
I woke up this morning to find a hyped email from Twist making wild claims that we were in the acknowledgements of a Doctor Who novel. I know it’s expected that as an author, I should be blasé about something like that, but I’m sorry, I can’t be. It’s Who.
I checked.
Spiral Scratch by Gary Russell – check, I’ve still got it on the shelf. Great Doctor Who novel featuring multiple universes, the sort of thing I’d love to write – check. Good Bridget Riley-ish cover – check. In the acknowledgements: ‘David Southwell and Sean Twist, for much inspiration’. Check.
Yet it’s there in black and white. I have no idea how I missed it when I read the book. No idea. I’ve been acknowledged in a cool Doctor Who novel. I refuse to be blasé about it. It’s a fantastic feeling. What makes it even better is that it’s Gary Russell who acknowledged us.
Gary is someone I really admire. Someone I really respect. It was his work at Big Finnish that helped restore by love and passion for Who. It was largely his work that made me fall in love with Colin Baker and Paul McGann’s Doctors. I think that the Who we have back on television would not exist in the same way without what Gary has produced at BF. He’s a good, talented and witty guy who is generous with his time. I loved knocking back the Cokes with him and chatting uber-Who fan stuff when Twist was interviewing him at Centre Point. The fact that he has put Twist and I down as inspirations in Spiral Scratch is beyond neat, especially as it’s such an enjoyable book
Of course, by ten o’clock, Stephen had news that would usually top anything. He announced that David Bowie had been given a copy of Generation Hex and was probably reading it over a cup of tea. Still, I’ve been acknowledged in a Doctor Who novel by one of the men I personally believe helped save Who, so I’m not being too harsh on myself for missing out on not submitting to Generation Hex and missing out on being read by Bowie in book containing with Stephen’s potent writing and Jason’s use of the ‘ESP kids’ quote by Luke Haines
All the sheer geeky thrill of being in the acknowledgements of Spiral Scratch helped take the edge of puking blood whilst passing it at the other end. I held it together enough to make the usual Friday trips and bring in grocery shopping for my grandparents. At this point, the day got odd.
Over a cup of tea, whilst discussing the details of the Princess Diana crash that I cannot publish, my granddad casually mentioned that the car crash that nearly killed my father had been an attempted contract killing.
Tea was spluttered.
Before I’d had a chance to ask anything, he also told me that the man who forced him of the road had been caught and sentenced, admitted he had been paid by ‘The Circle’ and that my father had got £3,000 from the criminal compensation board (a tidy sum in the mid-seventies). Oh, and that the failed assassin was an ex-bus driver - an inappropriately hilarious fact.
Obviously, this is going to need some investigating in the future, but it does mean that the one question I never got to ask my father has now moved from being: “Why didn’t you find a place for your sons in your life?” to: “How did it feel to have a contract on your life?”
Even when my existence sometimes seems to take a detour through that adjunct to the Twilight Zone known as Soap Opera Land, even in the strange world of conspiracy authoring, learning that someone took a contract out on your father is out there. Leave aside the being thanked in a Who novel, with this revelation, I feel as if I'm living in the fag end of a plot of one.
I woke up this morning to find a hyped email from Twist making wild claims that we were in the acknowledgements of a Doctor Who novel. I know it’s expected that as an author, I should be blasé about something like that, but I’m sorry, I can’t be. It’s Who.
I checked.
Spiral Scratch by Gary Russell – check, I’ve still got it on the shelf. Great Doctor Who novel featuring multiple universes, the sort of thing I’d love to write – check. Good Bridget Riley-ish cover – check. In the acknowledgements: ‘David Southwell and Sean Twist, for much inspiration’. Check.
Yet it’s there in black and white. I have no idea how I missed it when I read the book. No idea. I’ve been acknowledged in a cool Doctor Who novel. I refuse to be blasé about it. It’s a fantastic feeling. What makes it even better is that it’s Gary Russell who acknowledged us.
Gary is someone I really admire. Someone I really respect. It was his work at Big Finnish that helped restore by love and passion for Who. It was largely his work that made me fall in love with Colin Baker and Paul McGann’s Doctors. I think that the Who we have back on television would not exist in the same way without what Gary has produced at BF. He’s a good, talented and witty guy who is generous with his time. I loved knocking back the Cokes with him and chatting uber-Who fan stuff when Twist was interviewing him at Centre Point. The fact that he has put Twist and I down as inspirations in Spiral Scratch is beyond neat, especially as it’s such an enjoyable book
Of course, by ten o’clock, Stephen had news that would usually top anything. He announced that David Bowie had been given a copy of Generation Hex and was probably reading it over a cup of tea. Still, I’ve been acknowledged in a Doctor Who novel by one of the men I personally believe helped save Who, so I’m not being too harsh on myself for missing out on not submitting to Generation Hex and missing out on being read by Bowie in book containing with Stephen’s potent writing and Jason’s use of the ‘ESP kids’ quote by Luke Haines
All the sheer geeky thrill of being in the acknowledgements of Spiral Scratch helped take the edge of puking blood whilst passing it at the other end. I held it together enough to make the usual Friday trips and bring in grocery shopping for my grandparents. At this point, the day got odd.
Over a cup of tea, whilst discussing the details of the Princess Diana crash that I cannot publish, my granddad casually mentioned that the car crash that nearly killed my father had been an attempted contract killing.
Tea was spluttered.
Before I’d had a chance to ask anything, he also told me that the man who forced him of the road had been caught and sentenced, admitted he had been paid by ‘The Circle’ and that my father had got £3,000 from the criminal compensation board (a tidy sum in the mid-seventies). Oh, and that the failed assassin was an ex-bus driver - an inappropriately hilarious fact.
Obviously, this is going to need some investigating in the future, but it does mean that the one question I never got to ask my father has now moved from being: “Why didn’t you find a place for your sons in your life?” to: “How did it feel to have a contract on your life?”
Even when my existence sometimes seems to take a detour through that adjunct to the Twilight Zone known as Soap Opera Land, even in the strange world of conspiracy authoring, learning that someone took a contract out on your father is out there. Leave aside the being thanked in a Who novel, with this revelation, I feel as if I'm living in the fag end of a plot of one.
posted by David at 8:50 PM
1 Comments:
Gosh-how odd and interesting at the same time.
And the rest of the tale, how sad and happy as well. :( :)
Sad to say, I never even heard of Dr. Who, until a few months ago, and never watched it either, except for a few minutes here and there.
My sister in law is English, and she watches it on BBC America.
I now have a new interest in finding out about Dr. Who...............
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