Ask the Author: D.C. Macey
Answered Questions (7)
D.C. Macey
Hello David,
Thanks for your enquiry and an especial thank you for taking the time to read all four books in the Temple series. I really do appreciate it, and that you have taken the time to let me know. I, and I suppose most writers, spend a lot of time writing, which is necessarily quite isolating. As a result, it’s always cheering to receive a message from a reader – thank you.
You asked about Post Contact, whether it was a trilogy or if there were more books to come. I am very happy to call it a trilogy. While each of the novels can be read in isolation, there is a single overarching story that spans the three books. So, yes, it is a complete trilogy. However, beyond the published trilogy, there are other yet to be told adventures set within the Post Contact universe. These will pick up some of the established characters and explore what happens to them and humanity in the period after the conclusion of the trilogy. It seems likely this will eventually form a second distinct trilogy within the Post Contact universe. However, publication of that second series is some time away.
At present, I’m busy writing an historical fiction series that it is intended will be published on various dates during the next two years. It comprises three novels that are set in real places and woven through the history of real events. While conceived as a distinct and self-contained series, some readers may be pleased to discover it will ultimately combine to feed into the origins of the Temple Series.
I do hope this answers your question. Once again, thank you for your enquiry and please feel free to get back to me as and when you might wish.
Yours with my best wishes.
D.C.
Thanks for your enquiry and an especial thank you for taking the time to read all four books in the Temple series. I really do appreciate it, and that you have taken the time to let me know. I, and I suppose most writers, spend a lot of time writing, which is necessarily quite isolating. As a result, it’s always cheering to receive a message from a reader – thank you.
You asked about Post Contact, whether it was a trilogy or if there were more books to come. I am very happy to call it a trilogy. While each of the novels can be read in isolation, there is a single overarching story that spans the three books. So, yes, it is a complete trilogy. However, beyond the published trilogy, there are other yet to be told adventures set within the Post Contact universe. These will pick up some of the established characters and explore what happens to them and humanity in the period after the conclusion of the trilogy. It seems likely this will eventually form a second distinct trilogy within the Post Contact universe. However, publication of that second series is some time away.
At present, I’m busy writing an historical fiction series that it is intended will be published on various dates during the next two years. It comprises three novels that are set in real places and woven through the history of real events. While conceived as a distinct and self-contained series, some readers may be pleased to discover it will ultimately combine to feed into the origins of the Temple Series.
I do hope this answers your question. Once again, thank you for your enquiry and please feel free to get back to me as and when you might wish.
Yours with my best wishes.
D.C.
D.C. Macey
It’s a question that brought to mind an incident from the past.
Years ago, a seemingly bizarre incident occurred in West Lothian, the next county along from my home. It caught my attention and I followed the news reports with fascination. A local man had reported an alien encounter that involved his being overcome and rendered unconscious. The cynical might immediately have filed it under the too much to drink and late home without a good reason category. However, the events occurred during the working day, there was no drink involved, and there appeared to be evidence to corroborate the man’s claim.
At the time, the event made news all around the globe and caused quite a buzz, but as with all news, it quickly faded from the headlines. Nonetheless, it remained an intriguing incident. Many years later, I revisited it as a documentary producer. Sceptic I may be, but having done the research there did appear to be something of a mystery underlying the incident.
It was the only such event in the UK ever to have been investigated by the police as a crime, which immediately set it apart from other reports. I spent a lot of time trawling through the archives to get a proper handle on the event. Then more time tracking down those involved - which was not easy so long after the event.
Eventually, persistence paid off. I managed to secure access to all the key people involved: the police investigator, the police forensic scientist, the doctor and a number of others including the victim’s work colleagues and most importantly the victim himself. As the contributors’ evidence was assessed, it gradually became apparent that unlike many other such claims this story had some real substance to it.
The incident is explored in a standard 30-minute documentary programme and I posted a version on YouTube a while back - having first split it into three episodes to work round YouTube’s 10-minute play length restriction.
Do watch the programme and draw your own conclusions. All I know is each person involved on the day of the incident was entirely convincing during our extended interviews, and they were certain that something inexplicable had happened that day. None of the contributors had anything to gain from what they said during the interviews and all were respected members of their communities and professions.
Here are the YouTube links to the three parts of the documentary:
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOuKl...
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kfd...
Part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFofS...
Any problems opening the links you can access them via my blog and website too.
So, that incident is certainly a big mystery and while you’ll need to make up your own mind about the balance of probabilities, it undoubtedly represents the core around which a good and perhaps quite frightening plot could be built.
There’s another related mystery that offers an entirely different plot theme, which some might consider equally as sinister. At the time of making the programme, I wrote to the Ministry of Defence with a freedom of information request about the incident. Yes, the MOD actually had a UFO recording and investigation section.
The MOD wrote back to say they had neither records nor knowledge of the incident. Really? This incident featured in all the newspapers, headlined on the radio and television news and uniquely was the subject of a full-scale police investigation. Really? The MOD had simply missed it? Particularly odd when you consider the incident took place just a few miles from key defence assets such as the British Army’s then Scottish Division HQ, and the Royal Navy’s Rosyth Naval Base. It happened at the height of the Cold War, at that time anything odd occurring around such facilities was necessarily logged and monitored. That the MOD had no record of the incident was a mystery within a mystery.
I don’t understand what triggered the initial event, though having met the people involved and thereafter devoted many weeks to study the interview tapes and supporting evidence, I am quite sure all the contributors told the truth, as they understood it - it really is a mystery.
As for the MOD having no knowledge of the incident? It’s just as inexplicable, and almost as impossible to understand, unless some files are too sensitive even to acknowledge they exist. Perhaps there are secret files kept outside the filing system in a place where they can never be unearthed by inquisitive researchers. In any event, one thing is certain, the MOD must have learnt of the incident at that time. Why they chose not to log it or where they actually logged it, and why it appears to remain too secret to acknowledge, only the Ministry of Defence knows.
Years ago, a seemingly bizarre incident occurred in West Lothian, the next county along from my home. It caught my attention and I followed the news reports with fascination. A local man had reported an alien encounter that involved his being overcome and rendered unconscious. The cynical might immediately have filed it under the too much to drink and late home without a good reason category. However, the events occurred during the working day, there was no drink involved, and there appeared to be evidence to corroborate the man’s claim.
At the time, the event made news all around the globe and caused quite a buzz, but as with all news, it quickly faded from the headlines. Nonetheless, it remained an intriguing incident. Many years later, I revisited it as a documentary producer. Sceptic I may be, but having done the research there did appear to be something of a mystery underlying the incident.
It was the only such event in the UK ever to have been investigated by the police as a crime, which immediately set it apart from other reports. I spent a lot of time trawling through the archives to get a proper handle on the event. Then more time tracking down those involved - which was not easy so long after the event.
Eventually, persistence paid off. I managed to secure access to all the key people involved: the police investigator, the police forensic scientist, the doctor and a number of others including the victim’s work colleagues and most importantly the victim himself. As the contributors’ evidence was assessed, it gradually became apparent that unlike many other such claims this story had some real substance to it.
The incident is explored in a standard 30-minute documentary programme and I posted a version on YouTube a while back - having first split it into three episodes to work round YouTube’s 10-minute play length restriction.
Do watch the programme and draw your own conclusions. All I know is each person involved on the day of the incident was entirely convincing during our extended interviews, and they were certain that something inexplicable had happened that day. None of the contributors had anything to gain from what they said during the interviews and all were respected members of their communities and professions.
Here are the YouTube links to the three parts of the documentary:
Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOuKl...
Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kfd...
Part 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFofS...
Any problems opening the links you can access them via my blog and website too.
So, that incident is certainly a big mystery and while you’ll need to make up your own mind about the balance of probabilities, it undoubtedly represents the core around which a good and perhaps quite frightening plot could be built.
There’s another related mystery that offers an entirely different plot theme, which some might consider equally as sinister. At the time of making the programme, I wrote to the Ministry of Defence with a freedom of information request about the incident. Yes, the MOD actually had a UFO recording and investigation section.
The MOD wrote back to say they had neither records nor knowledge of the incident. Really? This incident featured in all the newspapers, headlined on the radio and television news and uniquely was the subject of a full-scale police investigation. Really? The MOD had simply missed it? Particularly odd when you consider the incident took place just a few miles from key defence assets such as the British Army’s then Scottish Division HQ, and the Royal Navy’s Rosyth Naval Base. It happened at the height of the Cold War, at that time anything odd occurring around such facilities was necessarily logged and monitored. That the MOD had no record of the incident was a mystery within a mystery.
I don’t understand what triggered the initial event, though having met the people involved and thereafter devoted many weeks to study the interview tapes and supporting evidence, I am quite sure all the contributors told the truth, as they understood it - it really is a mystery.
As for the MOD having no knowledge of the incident? It’s just as inexplicable, and almost as impossible to understand, unless some files are too sensitive even to acknowledge they exist. Perhaps there are secret files kept outside the filing system in a place where they can never be unearthed by inquisitive researchers. In any event, one thing is certain, the MOD must have learnt of the incident at that time. Why they chose not to log it or where they actually logged it, and why it appears to remain too secret to acknowledge, only the Ministry of Defence knows.
D.C. Macey
I’m lucky enough to live in a part of the world that’s steeped in history. Of course, the Templars were here and they certainly left their mark - part of their story played out in the landscape I see every day. What really inspired me to use the Templar story as a starting point for my current series was the betrayal and intrigue that surrounded their sudden end. They were just wiped away, leaving loose ends and unanswered questions scattered all across Europe; and of course, the biggest question of all, what happened to their missing treasure and holy artefacts?
D.C. Macey
I do enjoy walking along the riverbank behind my home, which I do almost every day. However, I’m not certain to what extent it’s really a source of inspiration; it may just be a familiar environment that enables my mind to disengage from the mundane and travel to where it needs. I am sure we used to call that process daydreaming - I also recall that various teachers used to regularly remonstrate with me for doing just that.
D.C. Macey
I have finished the second book in The Temple series and it will be published this August. I have also completed a detailed mapping of the third book in the series; I’m quite excited about it now and will start writing the story in a few weeks. The plan is to publish the third book during the spring of next year.
In the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to explore an entirely different theme and genre. They say, a change is as good as a rest, so I’m putting it to the test. Right now, I’m writing a science fiction novella. In fact, it’s started to grow arms and legs; novella was left behind a while ago - its growth has been really quite irresistible - the main characters have just kept demanding more story time! In any event, novella or now novel, I don’t anticipate the story seeing the light of day for some time. Once the first draft is finished, I will be setting it aside to focus on writing the third Temple book. I’ll revisit it when the third Temple book is done - perhaps go for publication at some point in the middle of next year.
In the meantime, I thought it would be interesting to explore an entirely different theme and genre. They say, a change is as good as a rest, so I’m putting it to the test. Right now, I’m writing a science fiction novella. In fact, it’s started to grow arms and legs; novella was left behind a while ago - its growth has been really quite irresistible - the main characters have just kept demanding more story time! In any event, novella or now novel, I don’t anticipate the story seeing the light of day for some time. Once the first draft is finished, I will be setting it aside to focus on writing the third Temple book. I’ll revisit it when the third Temple book is done - perhaps go for publication at some point in the middle of next year.
D.C. Macey
I am writing my third book at present, so perhaps I’m not long enough in the writing tooth to be giving anyone detailed advice. However, I believe the only route to achievement is actually to write the book, now; then there will be plenty of time for editing and analysis - and for worry and angst too!
D.C. Macey
To date, I have not experienced writer’s block. Perhaps that’s because I create a detailed plan or route map of the story before I start to write. While I always have the broad story arc in mind, at any given moment I am writing just one part, moving the story on from one mapped point to the next. If I do encounter a barrier, I will quite happily write around it to make sure I reach the next waypoint before stopping for the day - even though I know I will have to rewrite the weak part in due course. That ensures the next day’s writing session has an unencumbered start, and I find when it comes to the rewrite, given a little time, the mind generally comes up with a good solution.
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