Karl Jackson

I’ve always enjoyed learning, though not necessarily in an academic environment, and while I could, and still can, devour whole libraries of books on a subject I find interesting, you’d be hard pressed to find a teacher or lecturer from my past who ever imagined me being able to do more than string together a single written sentence. School, college twice, university four times, and while it was mostly my choice to be there, I didn’t particularly enjoy myself, or excel for that matter. This was captured perfectly by a friend I’d studied with on a recent trip through university when I published my first novel, Harry’s Game: First of The Few. She simply said ‘I’m impressed! I didn’t see you scribble a single word through three years of university, and I’m genuinely surprised you even know how to write!’

Assignments and dissertations aside, I started writing stories somewhere around 2012. It was a good way to relieve the stress after a long day, and while it was mostly nonsense, it was relaxing and enjoyable, and gave me something to get lost in.

A couple of years later, despite my protests, a good friend who I didn’t know was going to be such a significant influence in my life insisted on reading some of my work. I refused persistently, until I finally gave in and reluctantly sent a chapter. ‘I like it, and you really have to keep writing!’ came the unexpected reply. Whether or not they were being kind to protect my feelings, we’ll never know, but I did keep writing. Though I never did show anyone else the story I wrote. Come to think of it, I think I still have the manuscript somewhere...

Around the time my friend insisted I write more, Easter 2014 (I think), I had the idea that I’d write a children’s book. Something simple, and fun, and based on friends and people I knew. This is when Maddy Monday was born. A young girl who loved Mondays, which could well have been my own subconscious therapy to help me manage the dread of Mondays just that little bit better… Though the positivity that came with the writing seemed to truly irritate those who hated Mondays, which was all part of the fun. Regardless, the book was popular with children (and surprisingly with adults), so I wrote another, and another, and over a period of three years I wrote twelve Maddy Monday children’s books which, to my everlasting surprise, were bought not only by friends and family, but by strangers, both home and abroad! I was even invited to author readings, and was asked to sign copies of the books. It was all a bit surreal for something that happened as a bit of fun.

Fast forward to 2018, and I mentioned in conversation with a person that I worked with at the time that I would love to be able to draw, and that having so many pictures in my head, and so little talent to get them out, was a constant source of frustration. My colleague, to whom I'll be eternally grateful, then (quite unexpectedly) challenged me to learn to draw in such a way that I really couldn't say no!

What came next was beyond any expectation or imagination I had at the time... I'd always appreciated the work of the famous aviation artist Romain Hugault, and as I started to teach myself how to draw, I decided that I'd like to be able to emulate his aviation based graphic novels. How hard can it be, right? Well, as it turns out, his years of studying art at university meant that while it wasn't particularly 'hard' for him (I once stood by his side while he watched a display by the world famous Red Arrows while simultaneously drawing me a picture of a Spitfire!), it was much more difficult for a talentless hack scribbling with his crayons. Anyway, not one to shy away from a challenge, I persisted (slowly), and accepted that it was probably going to take some time to achieve my goal. So, I decided it would be a good idea to write the back story of the graphic novel I was going to create, just so I had the reference material when the time came. Step forward Miss Harriet Cornwall...