Ask the Author: Mark Wardlaw
Answered Questions (9)
Mark Wardlaw
The Ripper was never found. There could be more victims?
Mark Wardlaw
Hi Jeff,
Amazing, it must be 37 years since we last met up in St. Andrews. Fantastic times, so young, so full of ideas, and a passion to find out! Yes I did have a Renault 4 with a soft top which I did drive like a sports car! I never thought I would be an author- more likely to have been Chris but I was filled with a passion to share my grandparent's story which I knew nothing about until I found their letters in 2006. Good to hear you are going to write fiction in the 1914-1926 arena- a fascinating time. I wish you all the very best in this endeavor. Today in Bude, Cornwall we remembered D-Day and there was a re-enactment of the 1944 American's training for that fateful day on the beach.
Brilliant to connect. More private would be with the information given on the website www.brokenbymessines.co.uk
Best wishes
Mark
Amazing, it must be 37 years since we last met up in St. Andrews. Fantastic times, so young, so full of ideas, and a passion to find out! Yes I did have a Renault 4 with a soft top which I did drive like a sports car! I never thought I would be an author- more likely to have been Chris but I was filled with a passion to share my grandparent's story which I knew nothing about until I found their letters in 2006. Good to hear you are going to write fiction in the 1914-1926 arena- a fascinating time. I wish you all the very best in this endeavor. Today in Bude, Cornwall we remembered D-Day and there was a re-enactment of the 1944 American's training for that fateful day on the beach.
Brilliant to connect. More private would be with the information given on the website www.brokenbymessines.co.uk
Best wishes
Mark
Mark Wardlaw
Henry Patterson's world, pen name Jack Higgins. He has written numerous fast, absorbing thrillers. It would be in his books that you can live the hero's life. For example as Sean Dillon in any of the 22 books which feature his exploits. Goodreading!
Mark Wardlaw
Step back. Relax, unwind, take a break; then re-examine what you are trying to convey.
Mark Wardlaw
Sharing your passion in the unfolding of a story with others.
Mark Wardlaw
Be passionate. Find out. Share. Make life richer for all.
Mark Wardlaw
Promoting Broken by Messines in WW1 - The Grandparents I Never Knew
Mark Wardlaw
You need to feel a passion to share
Mark Wardlaw
It was not long after my parents died in Leith, Edinburgh that the house was cleared. In a cupboard I discovered an ornate wooden box which had belonged to my father’s mother Catherine Bell Hay (known as Kate). The box contained many letters, photographs and other items which she had kept during her time in New Zealand: 1912-1917 when she was assistant matron at The Girls’ High School Napier.
Most of these letters were from Peter Hutchinson Wardlaw – my grandfather. My father Elliot Wardlaw never met his father and never said much about him, so I knew almost nothing about Peter. Both Kate and Peter died long before I was born. Here was a chance in these letters to find out about my grandparents. As I started to read the letters I began to share the passion that they had for life and the love they had for one another. I was about to unearth a fascinating story set at a time of immense opportunity. However just like other people living their lives and making plans, Peter and Kate would never have thought there would be a world war.
Peter and Kate’s story is a microcosm of how war kills not only people, but love that is said to triumph over all adversity. Their story was so powerful and far removed from modern society that I decided to transpose the letters into a compelling book. Having researched and written this book my family now have a clearer picture of the past and what culminated at the Battle of Messines. It also explains why my father knew so little about Peter and the shame that he felt.
Kate loved to travel and experience the beauty of North Island; from the caves at Waitoma to the volcanic wonders of Rotorua, travelling by rail on the miracle of the Auckland-Wellington express or on horseback in Koro Koro Wellington.
Without Kate's box of letters there would be no story.
Most of these letters were from Peter Hutchinson Wardlaw – my grandfather. My father Elliot Wardlaw never met his father and never said much about him, so I knew almost nothing about Peter. Both Kate and Peter died long before I was born. Here was a chance in these letters to find out about my grandparents. As I started to read the letters I began to share the passion that they had for life and the love they had for one another. I was about to unearth a fascinating story set at a time of immense opportunity. However just like other people living their lives and making plans, Peter and Kate would never have thought there would be a world war.
Peter and Kate’s story is a microcosm of how war kills not only people, but love that is said to triumph over all adversity. Their story was so powerful and far removed from modern society that I decided to transpose the letters into a compelling book. Having researched and written this book my family now have a clearer picture of the past and what culminated at the Battle of Messines. It also explains why my father knew so little about Peter and the shame that he felt.
Kate loved to travel and experience the beauty of North Island; from the caves at Waitoma to the volcanic wonders of Rotorua, travelling by rail on the miracle of the Auckland-Wellington express or on horseback in Koro Koro Wellington.
Without Kate's box of letters there would be no story.
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