William T. Marshall

My full name is Thomas William Marshall, however I have always been known as Bill so use the name "William.T.Marshall" for writing my books.

Born in Alnwick Northumberland in 1958 second eldest in a family of six sons. Father is a retired painter and decorator and mother a retired resident musician who worked at various clubs and establishments in the north east of England. The families claim to fame on my mother's side is that her Grandfather was directly descended on the male line from Sir Isaac Newton's niece.

Grew up in Amble Northumberland, a stone's throw from the harbour, then a prosperous coal exporting port, and attended Amble Secondary Modern School. Was in the first year where it was compulsory to stay on at school until the age of 16 but left at the first opportunity thereafter and joined The Royal Navy as a Junior Marine Engineering Mechanic, and served six years mostly on ant- submarine frigates and left in 1980. Worked for ten years ashore in the London area in various engineering roles with-in the plant hire industry and specialist air compressor hire and then returned to sea in 1990 working in the seismic survey industry where previous maritime and high pressure air experience served me well. The last 22 years has been in the seismic survey industry where assignments have taken me to all four corners of the globe.

I am married and will be celebrating 28 years of marriage on my next anniversary having been together with my wife now for over 30 years, I have three children, eldest a daughter and identical twin sons, and two granddaughters.

A great deal of the inspiration in my writing has come from experience at sea where everything from the power of a storm through to the vulnerability of a vessel alone and far out at sea strikes home just how much destiny and fortune play a crucial role in all our lives.

One of my favourite pieces of advice and writings first shown to me by my eldest brother and something which I think reminds us all of how humble we are is The Desiderata by Max Ehrmann.

Interview with the Author.

What prompted you to write this particular book - what was the inspiration behind it?

The first book "Emily Adams and the Triangle of Doom" was started to entertain the crew of a seismic survey vessel during a long and boring survey in "The Gulf of Mexico" during the 90's, the inspiration having come from previous stories and poems I wrote some 20 years previously while serving on-board Royal Navy ships during the 70's

Do you write in a special place or have a special system for writing - a particular time of day, method, longhand/computer, etc?

I have always written as a form of relaxation after shift when at sea, with the stories and poems being entertaining to the crews on-board. Unfortunately a great deal of my early work was lost having been just hand drafted and never kept in the long term other than in my memory. A great deal of what is written in "Emily Adams" and "Kesselvassa" comes from those early memories and previous work.

What did you find most difficult about writing this particular book?

Writing "Emily Adams" wasn't particularly difficult at all but the prequel to it and the third in the series the sequel have proved more challenging. This is owing to more and more pressure from my readers to give a deeper insight into the imaginary world that exists inside "The Triangle of Doom" and more so its inhabitants and alien management with an emphasis on what is "The Soul" and what happens to it?

How does this book differ from your other, previous writings?

"Emily Adams" differs in the fact that it was the first of my work where the text and story were committed to long term preservation in the form of computer data files whereas previous hand written work was lost destroyed and even only kept in the very short term on notice boards, daily bulletins etc.

What do you consider to be the best quality of this book?

This book gives what some readers have described as a chilling insight into the possible origins of mankind. I have often been asked, "Do you think it could be true" and my answer, "Perhaps in another time line or dimension it has already happened.

Is there a particular central message you wanted to convey to readers?

There is no particular message however I feel this book ignites the burning desire within us all to know where we came from and possibly more so the follow on book prompts the reader to question how we as a species got here how we got to where we are today and more so where we will all end up. This is a question that everyone asks themselves at some point in time.

Of what facet of the book are you most proud?

The fact that everyone that reads it wants to read more when they are finished, and the fact that a lot of my female readers have said they wished they could be like Emily Adams.

If you began to write this book again would you do anything differently?

Rather than sitting on it for many years I'd have moved to publishing far earlier.

Do you have any advice to pass on to aspiring authors?

Get it down on paper and if readers urge you to write more, then it must be good

As an author, is there a book you wish you had written yourself?

The first serious novel I can recall reading was "Underwater Adventure" written by Willard Price and at the age of around 8 was possibly the first of many influencing factors in my life. I went on to read every one of the adventure series and I so wanted to be like Hal or his brother Roger the two zoologists in the book, and to lead an as interesting life as was theirs.

If I had to choose one book over all others to be the one I wished I'd written then it would have to be "The Time Machine" by H.G.Wells which has to be the best sci-fi book ever written, followed closely by King Solomon's Mines by Sir H Rider Haggard, it has to be the best adventure book ever written.

The poem I wish I'd written "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear.

Are you currently working on any other books?

The prequel to "Emily Adams and the Triangle of Doom" is already written and is entitled "Kesselvassa the Triangle of Doom II" and is available on Amazon (KIndle). A third book in the series is currently being written and is entitled "Emily Adams and the Seven Moons of Elysium" coming shortly.

Also in the process of writing a forth book entitled "Sidney's War" presently under research and construction and is based on the real life events of the second world war expeditionary force, that was sent into France to try and hold back the Nazi advance in 1939 and more so of the ones that were captured and spent the war interned in German POW camps.