Meet the Author - Interview
My fascination with character study led me to my degree in Psychology and Philosophy from the University College of North Wales and then as a college lecturer in English Literature which, combined with a fascination for the atmosphere I found in Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca", all drove me to become a full-time writer of character studies, atmospheric mystery and suspense, with underlying romance and family/relationships.
Troubled souls; the outsider, the lonely, any driven to extremity, have been indispensable for my novels which you can sample and, I hope, download from the online bookstores I've included in the Home and Novel Excerpts & Samples sections of my website.
Of my novel based in Cyprus, "Aristo's Family", Barbara Erskine, best selling author of River of Destiny, has generously commented on the "beautifully observed characters, intriguing and atmospheric scenes and, above all, the suspense which made me want to read on".
My favourite film producer is Alfred Hitchcock, and I suppose it is true to say that I have been most influenced in my writing by Patricia Highsmith, who always struck me as more interested in the psychological motives of the 'why-done-it' than the 'who-done-it'. Of those who have sadly passed, Ruth Rendell, D H Lawrence and - particularly - Daphne du Maurier, have fired my enthusiasm while of those who, thankfully, still live, I enjoy the work of Ian McEwan and Susan Hill, author of The Lady in Black.
I suspect that my teaching of English Literature in colleges and then as a private tutor have in some measure informed my new suspense A Child from the Wishing Well.
This features an eerie music tutor, her young pupil Rosie and Rosie's paranoid and inept father, Gerard, who nevertheless yearns to mean more to his daughter. Throughout, I think it is fair to say I was consumed with the question of whether Gerard, the paranoid father, could in the end fight his mental illness to grow closer to his daughter, Rosie, who is, emotionally, alone.
Other than being an author, I am a well-behaved 'hubby' and ' Pops' to my dear daughter, Catherine. I confess to a passion for plump, docile tabbies and am moved by the music and life of the composer Edward Elgar, my interest leading me each year to a cottage in the Malvern Hills and to the Three Choirs Festival.
Perhaps I may finish with some of the comments which others have been kind enough to make but, before I do, if you should like to follow me on Facebook or Twitter, then here are the links :
REVIEWS of A Child from the Wishing Well :
"Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, the first scary movie I remember seeing was the 1965 Bette Davis movie, The Nanny. To this day, that movie has always stuck with me as one of the great psychological thrillers of all time. For me, A Child from the Wishing Well, is reminiscent of that movie."
CANDACE BOWEN EARLY - author of A Knight of Silence
"The story is both enjoyable and oddly chilling, all the more so for its apparent warmth.
The pleasantness of Ruth and her liveliness should seem gentle, grandmotherly and appealing, a sweet old lady one could adore, what seems kindly suddenly turns sinister, her upbeat excitability oddly macabre, her voice... a bird screeching... fingers down a blackboard.
Will Gerard realize what he feels is not just a symptom of his disease? And if not, will his wife Heather uncover the truth and save little Rosie?"
RAVEN CLARK - author of The Shadowsword Saga
"The author gives great voice to his characters, describing well their idiosyncrasies. A good story must either go deep or wide, and with Nickford's background in psychology he goes deep within the human condition. For some adults, the ability to relate to a child does not come naturally, and requires enormous if not awkward effort.
This is an often overlooked subject worth exploring" -
STEPHEN VALENTINE - author of Nobody Rides for Free
"A beautifully constructed scenario emerged.
The attic scene vividly describes the significance of the doll in the depth of the well. All the mystery and menace of the story coalesces here.
I was taken back years to the 1960s when I read a story by Saki entitled The Lumber Room. Mystery and menace are purely distilled in a distinctive writing style."
TONY BRADY - author of Scenes from an Examined Life
"Full of dark shadings and menace. I like the tenderness of the father's feelings."
A. R. TAYLOR - author of Sex, Rain, and Cold Fusion