For me, it started when I was a student at
Heriot-Watt University, which in 1973 was centred in Edinburgh city centre.
Along with a couple of classmates, I went to an evening seminar given by Tim
Dinsdale, who promised to show evidence of the existence of the Loch Ness
Monster. A claim endorsed by the great Sir Peter Scott, who later proposed the
scientific name Nessiteras rhombopteryx for Nessie.
At the seminar, Dinsdale did reveal an image (The
Rines/Egerton picture) of the fin of the monster. Together with detailed sonar
images of Nessie swimming the depts of Loch Ness. The images were impressive, but
not conclusive.
Afterwards, in the post-seminar discussion huddle in
a nearby pub, I concluded that it was a load of nonsense. Most Scots believe
that the Loch Ness Monster is a myth to lure tourists. But the professional
sincerity of Dinsdale and his story set me thinking about the real reason for a
group of respected American scientists/engineers led by Dr Robert Rines to
deploy high-tech sonar and state-of-the-art strobe camera equipment in Loch
Ness. I didn’t believe they were looking for elusive Nessie. So, what were they
really looking to find?
Around the same time, Rudolph Hess’s son and
lawyers were arguing for his release, so the Rudolph Hess story moved back into
the news. In May 1942, Hess was caught flying to the north of Scotland, when he
ran out of fuel. During WW2, the British Government could have made great
propaganda, but kept his capture secret. After the war, he was held in solitary
confinement in Spandau Prison until his death in 1987, aged 93.
He was the only prisoner, guarded in rotation by
Britain, France, USA and Soviet Union, while each of them tried to discover details
of his mission to Scotland. He died while under American supervision reported
as suicide, although his lawyer and family said he was too frail to organise
such an event.
For me, the two stories locked together to provide
a foundation for an epic fiction story. Americans searching Loch Ness. Rudolph
Hess making a perilous journey to the Scottish Highlands and not revealing his
mission. The third part of the story increased the intrigue. Americans were the
last to speak to Hess before he died.
During my studies, I fleshed out a plot outline.
Then life took over, I got married, we had children, moved to Stirling
University, then Dundee University for training and experience before settling
at Paisley College, which eventually became Paisley University then University
of the West of Scotland. All along the way, the plot fermented in my mind, and I
developed the story.
During research for the books, I found an article
with a plausible explanation for Nessie sightings, but of course, it didn’t
receive the same publicity and traction as the ‘monster’ story.
Every author will know that once an idea is locked
in your brain, the only way to find peace is to write and write until the story
is flushed out of your thoughts. When I retired in 2011, I started full-time on
the first book, and found that the story had mushroomed into three books.
Deadly Secrets, Everything to Lose, and The Black Fox.
By this time, I envisioned a thriller series that
would take inspiration from the books my father read (Ian Fleming) when I was a
boy, and the early 1970s TV series, Doomwatch. The Lambeth Group emerged as a
Home Office-based covert department tasked to investigate crimes that can’t be
prosecuted, or made public, because their exposure would damage the government
and the country.
I imagined a department with a policing strategy to
protect the country from criminal, unethical, unprincipled scientists, and
technologists. They uphold the law, but aren’t constrained by the rules and
procedures created for traditional law enforcement.
The lead
character is Zoe Tampsin, an ex-army captain, and section leader for the
Security Service (MI5). Special forces trained, she served in Bosnia and
Afghanistan, and successfully completed undercover security operations at home
and various hotspots abroad. Her CO wrote into her record; 'Zoe Tampsin
protects her troop like a lioness protecting her cubs, powerful, determined,
and completely ruthless.'
Zoe is
supported and antagonised by science investigator, Dr Gavin Shawlens. As a natural cover
officer, Gavin uses his genuine profession as cover for clandestine work. In
return for his expertise on investigations, he receives funding for his research
team. A loner, reluctant, sceptical, and lacking confidence in spy business.
Gavin is the least experienced member of Zoe’s team.
Ten books completed, the world saved several
times, evil scientists stopped, terrorists defeated, and high-tech criminals outsmarted.
What next? Watch this space.
