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| The
G P Taylor interview |
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| G P Taylor and Shadowmancer |
The Reverend Graham Taylor,
the vicar of St Mary's church in Cloughton, North Yorkshire, hit the
headlines in June when a publishing firm signed him up to a lucrative
deal for his self-published good-versus-evil children's fantasy novel
Shadowmancer.
The book has already sold 250,000 copies and features in the top 10
of children's book in the UK, rivalled only by JK Rowling's Harry
Potter stories.
His second book, called Wormwood, is almost finished and is due for
release next summer
The 43-year-old former punk and policeman sold his motorbike to raise
the initial £3,500 needed to publish his book privately 10 months
ago. These original copies of which 500 were published have been swapping
hands for as much as £4,000.
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| The G P Taylor Interview
- 23rd November 2003 |
International best-selling sensation, vicar,
father, policeman, husband, social worker, punk rocker, rebel teen--
the Reverend Graham Taylor has been all of these things at various
times in his life. He sits down to discuss how Shadowmancer came to
be, his eclectic past, and topics of faith, religion, and the occult.
G.P. Taylor on writing:
1. Did you always know that
you would be a writer?
In the back of my mind I always knew that I would
be a storyteller and that something was going to happen. I was just
reluctant to get the ball rolling. Eventually a voice kept telling
me that this was the time and I had to do it. If something is right,
it is worth waiting for.
2. You name Eminem as inspiring you to write. Please comment
Marshall Mathers is a very good poet - even though
I don't like his cussing, I admire his use of language and his ability
to communicate with so many people. As a teenager I was heavily influenced
by David Bowie and know of the effect it had on my life - dyed hair
- strange clothes and some odd looking girlfriends. He is still a
hero and his music is a great influence on my writing especially his
latest album. It was Marshall Mathers and One Shot from Eight Mile
that really made me want to get the book to a larger audience - you
only get one shot...
3. When did you first dream
up the ideas for a fantasy novel for children?
I first came up with an idea for a fantasy novel
for children during a church meeting. I was speaking to my parishioners
and saying that I felt that Harry Potter was marketed to an age group
that was too young to understand the subtlety of what JK Rowling was
writing about. She said in one book that there is no such thing as
good and evil, only power. I feel that she leaves the balance of power
in the hands of negative forces. So a parishioner challenged me to
write my own children’s book. I wanted to write one that was
uncompromising in values, yet fun to read.
I wanted to bring back the adventure into literature for kids and
give them something that they would read throughout their lives. The
trouble with Shadowmancer is that the parents buy the book and end
up reading it themselves. The kids have to wait until they are finished.
One girl wrote to me asking if I would send her another copy as she
couldn't get it away from her mother. When her mother was finished,
her father grabbed it.
4. How has sign language influenced
your writing?
As a child, there was very little verbal English spoken
in my home. My father was profoundly deaf and my mother was hard of
hearing. My mom was constantly communicating with my dad in sign language
and sometimes she would speak to us kids in English. Because of my
mom’s hearing, the TV was on all day up at full volume. You
could hear my house around the corner due to the constant noise from
the TV. We were surrounded by the deafening noise of the TV, even
when we went to bed.
I came from a working class background and we did not have any books
in the house—so I didn’t read books. I read comics, watched
films and TV so all of my stimulus was visual. As a result before
I sit down to write a chapter, I have to play it like a video in my
mind.
At age 14 my mind was blown away by the movie, Dirty Harry. Again,
so much of growing up was visual. Sometimes I think that I see myself
more as a movie maker than a writer.
5. You have said that you think
that villains in children’s books are not scary enough. Do you
really believe that?
Voldermort is a wimp! Lord Asriel wouldn't get out
of first grade. But when it comes to wicked then even Snoop Dog better
sit up and check Obadiah Demurral out - he is a mean dude and a villain
with attitude. Kids want real villains with meanness and scary attitudes
so that's what they get.Children like to be frightened and need to
learn to deal with fear.
Fear also brings an excitement which then brings them on to learn
and read and keep turning the pages. That’s all that I wanted
to do, write a book where kids turned the pages.Shadowmancer
is aimed at older children. Yes it is frightening, but it’s
also a feel-good story.
6. Do your surroundings inspire you to write? Describe them.
I live in a seculuded churchyard near an old quarry and a wood. Most
people think that it is a spooky place, but I just love it. There
is nothing more peaceful than to wander through the graves as darkness
falls and the mist rises from the marsh, the moonlight bounces from
the old gravestones, I just need to look out of the window and I get
all of the inspiration that I need.
I can be inspired by anything - my new book is inspired by the dark
alleys of London. The rugged cliffs and fierce storms in Ravenscar
added something to Shadowmancer.
7. Do you feel that Shadowmancer
owes a debt to Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis, and historical adventures
by J. Meade Falkner, Russle Thorndike,and Leon Garfield?
If I knew who they were I would say yes, but I didn't start to read
until I was sixteen and got into George Orwell. Girls were reading
books, so I started reading the books that they were reading to not
appear thick. I started with Lord of the Flies, then 1984 and Animal
Farm, then Ted Hughes poetry and Sylvia Plath. I was really flattered
when one reviewer called Shadowmancer a cross between Roald Dahl and
Charles Dickens
I read a couple of chapters of Tolkein but that was it. My influences
come from films especially seventies American cult films like Taxi
Driver and Dirty Harry.
8. Why is there so much evil and violence in your writing?
There may be evil, but darkness makes the light so
much brighter. A single ray of sunshine can be blinding when it follows
a dark storm. If we look around the world we can see so much evil
and violence that kids need to know some hope. They have to be reminded
that goodness will always prevail. Evil only conquers when good people
sit back and do nothing...
9. You have been called a Christian
answer to J.K. Rowling and Phillip Pullman. How do you respond?
Shadowmancer is not a Christian book, it is a book about good and
evil and appeals to Jews and Muslims as well as atheists. I was ordained
after youthful experiments with punk rock, druidism, the occult, and
transcendental meditation. I read the Qu’ran before reading
the Bible and I am just as happy to talk about the Talmud. My writing
is informed as much by Judaism and Islam as it the by the Christian
tradition. It is the account of an eternal truth.
G.P. Taylor on his eclectic
past:
10. How does
a high-school drop-out become a best-selling author?
By waiting a long time and studying life. Every experience
we have in life is never wasted. Without those experiences, I wouldn't
be a best-selling author. It's been a long and hard road shared with
a really good companion.
11. You will be coming to America
on the Queen Mary II, why is this special for you?
My grandfather left Ireland to come to England and
find work. His brother sailed to America for the same reason and they
never saw each other again. It will be good to follow in his footsteps
and see the New York skyline come into view. I am an Americaphile
and would love Britain to become the 51st state. It's like having
a big brother who you know is on your side. People knock America but
the world would be a far more dangerous place without them. That is
a common view held amongst ordinary people here in the UK. I am so
excited to have my book released in the States because it was primarily
written for the American market. The ones who have read the import
version have really enjoyed it. I hear George W Bush is interested
in ghosts - I lecture on the paranormal and would love to tell him
some of my encounters.
12. You have three pre-teen
daughters, what will you tell them when they ask about your rebel
teenage years and later your time in the London Punk Rock scene living
in the fast-lane with the Sex Pistols and Johnny Rotten?
I am very open about my early life - all my skeletons are on the outside
of the cupboard. My children often ask what was it like to be a weird
kid so I tell them, now it's like talking about another person because
I have been transformed so much. I do not regret anything, but I do
not want my daughters to experiment they way I did.
13. You were brutally attacked
while in the police force, what did that teach you about fear?
It taught me that life can be over very quickly and
that you have to make the most of every second and always be prepared
to meet the Boss. Fear is a very destructive thing and it can be conquered.
When I thought I was going to be killed all I could think about was
my wife and how cross she would be that I was going to be late home
again. Strange what comes into your mind at times like that.
14. You said that it was love
at first sight with your wife and you have been together for over
20 years. What did she think when you first began writing Shadowmancer?
When I met Kathy, I knew that I would marry her right
away. We went out once, and two weeks later I proposed. When I started
writing Shadowmancer, she was pleased that I had actually started
to do something she knew I should have done twenty years before. Kathy
is very supportive, but also always tells me if she thinks I am being
too risqué or near to the bone with what I write.
G.P. Taylor on Faith, Religion, and the Occult:
15. At 16 a voice told you to
become a vicar. At 21 it called again. What made your finally listen
to the voice inside?
You can only run so far away from G-d before he grabs
you by the scruff of the neck and pulls you back. As I grew up he
let me grow through the rebellion and just kept waiting for me. He
was there on every street corner picking me up dusting me off and
then waited until I fell off the road again. Eventually I had to listen
to Him, He has a very loud voice and you can't get away.
16. Why did your calling from
God scare you so much? Or why did the prospect of becoming a minister
scare you so much?
I was from the wrong side of the tracks, kids like
me didn't get ordained. It's like Eminem becoming the right hand man
to Pat Robertson - an awesome task and not to be treated lightly.
After all, we have to answer to Him as ministers for everything we
get up to in His Name.
17. How did your years working on the violent streets as a police
officer strengthen your faith?
It made you realize that everyone is created for a purpose and that
death wasn't the end of life. I have seen death in every shape and
form. From kids to oldies in peace and violence. It made sense of
all the things I had learned in church - life is tough, wrongdoing
has consequences but that everyone is capable of being pulled out
of the gutter and redeemed. It also made me understand fully that
we are all created equally regardless of race, color or religious
belief.
18. What are some of the best
things about being a vicar?
Being trusted by people and being allowed to share
with them in good times and bad. Being with the lonely and the dying
sharing the joys of new life and seeing people grow in their faith.
19. Have you found that teens
are becoming more interested in religion? You have said that the occult
is the fastest growing faith system among 14-17 year olds. Please
discuss.
Teens are not becoming more interested in the Church
per se, but there are other faiths that appear more exciting to them.
Unfortunately, in some cases the Church of England has gotten rid
of the supernatural element of faith and this that what attracts many
people to G-d. That is why they get involved in the occult because
if you tell people that G-d can't help them then who do they turn
to? I believe in a powerful G-d who can change people's lives.
20. How is it that you are
an authority on witchcraft and the occult, but are also a vicar? Where
does your fascination with the occult come from?
I became interested in the occult at the age of 13 and read everything
that I could. At that time, the idea of being a Christian was abhorrent
to me. My parents had no time for religion, mainly because they worked
so hard.
Before becoming a Christian, I was desperate to find out who God was…
a lot of my research into the occult over the years happened with
the hopes of discovering God. In the end, I only found him in Christianity.
After all of the research, I was left with the legacy of all of this
knowledge. I was fascinated by the scientific value of ghosts. I was
asked to pass along this knowledge to other groups. People wanted
to know what exactly witchcraft and magic are, what ghosts are, and
what are the powers behind these forces. I gained a lot of my experience
through talking with people who had experienced these things, visiting
sites where these things took place, and leafing through many old
volumes.
21. A newspaper article mentions
that you have been lecturing on esoteric subjects for 20 year. Like
what?
I most often talk about poltergeists,
ghosts, witchcraft, and folklore.
22. You have had all types
of experience with vampires, Goths, witches, and ghosts. Is that par
for the course in Yorkshire?
No, not really - I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and
these things tend to find you. I am not frightened by the occult or
spirits so it was me that was always getting involved. Plus being
the vicar in a small town that has hundreds, if not thousands, of
vampires visit each year, it falls to me to deal with these matters.
23. What statement are you
making by making the anti-hero in Shadowmancer, Obadiah Demurral,
a sorcerer, murderer, rapacious mine-owner, and ghoul, but also a
priest? Who is he based on?
I may be making a few statements:
The ministry in the eighteenth century was too often peopled by third
sons of the gentry who had nothing better to do. They weren’t
particularly spiritual, let alone pleasant. Many were local tyrants
who exploited their congregation via the tithing system. I am making
a point about the abuse of religious power.
Today there are people in the Church who preach hell and damnation.
And there is not much Christian love behind it. They say ‘This
is evil, that is evil,’ but they are not keen on looking at
themselves.
Or one another way to look at Obadiah is that maybe he is the person
that I could have become-- a shadow self that we all have and are
too afraid to talk about.
G.P. Taylor on the reactions to Shadowmancer:
24. Were any of your parishioners surprised
when they first read Shadowmancer?
No, they liked it so much that they told me to go home and write another
one.
25. Do you think that your
parishioners could be more accepting of the occult themes because
Whitby is in Dracula country?
I don't think they see the dark
themes, they just see the exciting story and adventure. The book is
read on many different levels and we bring to it our own agenda. To
a child it is a classic adventure for an adult it is a classic gothic
novel.
26. Have you had any negative
reactions?
I have had the odd letter threatening me with the
fires of hell for promoting witchcraft. This is nonsense of course.
The book is about good winning over evil. Most evangelicals would
not know a witch if one sat next to them on the subway.
Otherwise, the reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.
27. Do you think that people
feel that Shadowmancer is a Christian story?
Certainly not. I get letters from people of all faiths
claiming it is about their particular way of belief. It's amazing...everyone
is claiming it as their own.
The Wee Web would like to thank G
P Taylor for sending us this interview!
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