Terry Dee is the acclaimed author of the Written in my Blood series, a WW2-era thriller based on the intrigues and mysteries behind a gold heist that transcends enemy lines. Following the release of Written in my Blood – Gold, What We Reading sat down with Terry to discuss everything from the accident that allowed him to commit to writing full-time, being immersed in the locales and characters he writes, to Stanley Morgan inspiring a mid-life crisis!
Thanks for speaking with us, Terry! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
For years I have loved writing, although it had never been novels, well, until recently that is.
For many years, I had worked as an engineer for a pharmaceutical company, there, as you can imagine, it was a necessity to keep records.
So, reports, plans, and the day-to-day running.
But, my real urge to write seriously came when my children were young, we would make up stories, each of us giving a line to the story, great fun.
Then, after watching a news report one evening, a plot came into my head, so, not being absolutely sure of how to write the story down, I joined a writing course at the local adult education centre, which I would recommend to everyone.
Ah, but how did I end up writing my first book;
This I must tell you… as it could have been a book itself:
My wife Sheila became seriously ill, so much so, that she was taken into a care home to be looked after. I was working at the time.
So, to get to and fro the care home, I got a little scooter.
One day, not long after I had bought the scooter, a van drove into me, knocking me unconscious, and breaking my arm and collar bone.
Two operations on my arm later, and several weeks off work.
Not able to do anything, and bored at home, my friend said “Why don’t you write that book you keep talking about,” and so I did.
Written in my Blood has been the result. And the best therapy I could ever have had.
Talk to us about Written in my Blood. What is it about, and where did the inspiration for it come from?
There are three books in this series:
- Written in my Blood – S.T.A.K.
- Written in my Blood – John and Samuel
With the first to be published:
- Written in my Blood – Gold.
Gold, stolen by Wilhelm Schick (a German Commander) during the Second World War, with help from Samuel Plant (a British sergeant). Their plan, to hide the gold until after the war, a nest egg for the future.
The plan being that, two years after the end of the war, with peace in Europe, they would recover the gold…
Many years and three generations later, Sebastian Plant, Samuel’s Great Grandson, rummaging through his parent’s loft, finds a contract, written in German, but, written on the top: his Great Grandfathers name. Sebastian, curious to know more about the contract, starts his research.
Tom Paige, a rugby-playing bohemian charity worker; his job, to find lost and stolen items from the war, returning them to their rightful owners.
Then one day, the same contract arrives at his office… but what does it mean?
Sebastian and Tom join forces, and with the help of Jennifer Pinski, now living and studying in Los Angeles, they follow the clues left in the contract.
As they set off on their quest, they all feel this same nagging doubt… was the journey going to be worth it, what will there be if they find it, and will the gold, after all these years, still be there?
There was only one way to find out… they had to go!
Written in my Blood – Gold, is a fictional story, based on real historical events.
My stories are based in the real world; that of gangs, violence, and exotic parties. The horrors of war, fear, and pain… of death, greed, and hedonism.
What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?
I try in my stories to put the reader right in the middle of the action, to feel they are there, the sensations, the warmth of the fire as it crackles, tears of joy as you find success, a tingle of fear in your spine, or, the hair rising on the back of your neck.
To feel the emotions of the people who were there, to be drawn into their world, to laugh when they laugh, to cry when they cry.
This will be an escapism into a world in which you have never been before, you will laugh, and you will cry.
You will feel every emotion, the warmth of the sun, the chill as you stand in late autumn’s cold north wind.
And shock as you confront the unexpected.
What do you think makes you stand out as an author?
Realism, reality… and I mean by that, that every single human being lives with their own mind, their own world, their reality.
This is a good thing, it means we all have different ways of looking at the world, the way we think, the books we read.
I, for example, like to keep my, and my characters’ feet firmly on the ground, governed by reality, a world of gravity, commerce, good people, and bad people.
My characters sit in the world of reality, a world that, if you are fatally shot, you will die.
What would you say has been your biggest success so far?
After the motorbike accident, as I started to write the first book, I knew I needed to learn more, more about the things I was writing about.
The places in the stories, the buildings, the sights, the smells.
This then, as the stories were forming in my head, became my goal; to put over to the reader what I am seeing, feeling, and then placing my characters into that environment.
That the stories are fictional, but based on real events, I started to visit those places, visiting the sites of historic events, seeing for myself the place I was about to write about. I, whilst writing the books, would now picture the scene, it was in my head, I was there, I was in that place, looking, seeing, feeling.
For me, the pictures in my head as I was writing the books helped me enormously, and for those who have already read my books say the same, that they knew I had been there, that I had stood in that place, that it came over in the writing.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
Oh, this was such a long time ago; when I get to the end of this section, I will let you into a little secret. I was probably in my late teens, early twenties, with my then girlfriend, we went to a charity jumble sale, there was nothing that I particularly wanted, but, as you do, I was picking up this and that.
There was a book, it looked interesting, a humorous short novel. So, I bought it… a few pence.
Having got the book home, I was drawn in, the book, amazing, the character… I wanted to be that character… this is what a book should be, I was hooked.
So addicted did I become to the character, I eventually bought the whole series, and all the other books by the same author, I think he made a fortune out of me.
And the book: Tobin in Paradise by Stanley Morgan.
Now the secret; That although I was a young man when I bought these books, and many years have passed since then, I, a couple of years ago, found a copy of the book online. I must have that book.
Shall we call it a mid-life crisis! I bought it!
I am many years older now, with a wealth of experience in my life, and, I embarrassingly have to say: Tobin in Paradise, failed to reach the parts it reached when I was a teenager. (I should have just kept it a memory from my youth!).
What’s one tip you would give your younger self if you had the opportunity?
School, or at least my schooling, seemed to be tunnel-visioned, we seemed to be guided towards working in a factory. Not sure if that was reality or my imagination. Now older, and looking back, I can see many opportunities that I probably did miss though, that of my love of football, or that, when in my late teens, I was playing in local bands, in those days I was writing songs.
But, the inevitable… I got a job in a factory.
Not that that turned out to be a bad thing. I was an engineer, maintenance. After breaking my arm, and now in my latter years, I have to say, when I did take up full-time writing, it was probably the right time.
With two fantastic kids, and now three grandchildren. I am happy where I am in life right now.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
Writing is a bit like riding a bike, it would seem, that once you have learned how to do it, you never stop.
But then, writing does come in all sorts of packages. Be it: Novels, Newspaper Journalism, or Magazine articles.
You can write about a hobby, cars, food or tiddlywinks (although there probably isn’t a lot you can write about tiddlywinks). I love the characters I have created, they live with me, now in my head, but they are there, and I am always thinking up plots for them.
And with that in mind, I do have the next book, ready, in my head, waiting to hit the page. But that will be in the future. For now, as I say, there are many forms of writing, many challenges to take on, and things to learn and try.
So, my next project is to write a film script. Being a storyteller, using your imagination is a wonderful thing.
I hope all the people who read this interview will go away with a sense that, they can do this. We all have a story; it is happening around each and every one of us, all of the time.
Thank you for being part of my world.
Follow Terry and all of his work on Facebook or on his website
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
