Ask the Author: Gerry Wolstenholme
Answered Questions (7)
Gerry Wolstenholme
Hi Clare You have done well to locate a copy so quickly. Postage from USA varies so much, as does state tax, and, as you say, it can become quite expensive. But if we want a book, we want it and that's that, isn't it? I feel sure you will enjoy it and it has memories for you, too. I notice you have put a friend's request to me, I will actin it shortly and look forward to more book chats in the future. Regards
Gerry
PS I have just bought a book off Abebooks; I saw it on ebay for more than I have paid so I was quite pleased as, like you, I decided I wanted it!
Gerry
PS I have just bought a book off Abebooks; I saw it on ebay for more than I have paid so I was quite pleased as, like you, I decided I wanted it!
Gerry Wolstenholme
Hi there Clare I do have the book in my collection but just at the moment, I am not sure exactly where it is! I will look for it. I saw it in a secondhand shop, thought it looked interesting and it was. It was purely a by chance find; I am always looking in secondhand shops to see what I can find! If I find another copy I will let you know,
Gerry Wolstenholme
I want to buy some more books. I have no more shelf space.
Gerry Wolstenholme
I have two possibilities for the answer to this question and I hope a dual response is allowed.
Firstly I would travel to the Victorian London of Charles Dickens' novels. Not only would it add first-hand colour to his works but it would be great to accompany the author on his many perambulations around the metropolis. And it would be great to meet the man himself as wandering with him as he gathered together ideas for his fiction would be tremendous and particularly accompanying him on his trips around the capital with the police to see the underbelly of London society would be quite enlightening - not that I would want to stay in such locations for too long a period!
Secondly I would venture to Treasure Island where I could help Jim Hawkins and the rest of the crew as they search for the treasure. Not only would it be nice to visit such an island and be involved in the adventure but it would be interesting to meet Ben Gunn and discuss with him how he managed to survive all the years since his shipwreck. Of course, one would want to avoid Long John Silver and his band of ruffians but if they were encountered it would be fun, perhaps dangerous fun, to try and outwit them ... and then discover the treasure!
I am sure there are other fictional places that I would like to visit such as, for example, Ruritania to fight off Rupert of Henzau and the other baddies, but these two I have chosen came instantly to mind.
Firstly I would travel to the Victorian London of Charles Dickens' novels. Not only would it add first-hand colour to his works but it would be great to accompany the author on his many perambulations around the metropolis. And it would be great to meet the man himself as wandering with him as he gathered together ideas for his fiction would be tremendous and particularly accompanying him on his trips around the capital with the police to see the underbelly of London society would be quite enlightening - not that I would want to stay in such locations for too long a period!
Secondly I would venture to Treasure Island where I could help Jim Hawkins and the rest of the crew as they search for the treasure. Not only would it be nice to visit such an island and be involved in the adventure but it would be interesting to meet Ben Gunn and discuss with him how he managed to survive all the years since his shipwreck. Of course, one would want to avoid Long John Silver and his band of ruffians but if they were encountered it would be fun, perhaps dangerous fun, to try and outwit them ... and then discover the treasure!
I am sure there are other fictional places that I would like to visit such as, for example, Ruritania to fight off Rupert of Henzau and the other baddies, but these two I have chosen came instantly to mind.
Gerry Wolstenholme
Summer reading list? Any reading list? I pose these questions rhetorically for I am sorry to say I don't have any reading lists. If that sounds odd, just let me explain ...
Like probably most of our goodreads readers, I have a huge collection of books and even though I am rapidly running out of room, I do keep adding to it. For instance my daughter visited a couple of weeks ago and we went on buying sprees to car boot sales and various shops with the result that, during her week's stay, I added a further 86 books to my collection.
And that is the reason I do not have a reading list. Every lot of new books that come in (and believe it or not, hardly a day goes by without at least one purchase - and normally many purchases) I peruse and often decide that there is at least one that I must read next. In addition, when I look over my shelves (sadly some books are in wardrobes and are more difficult to get at) I always see something that I think 'I must read that next' - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, it depends on what has come in. Hence no planned reading list!
I realise that perhaps this is an odd way to go about my reading but it seems to suit me and with such a random way of dealing with the problem, I never do know what I am likely to be reading next ... and again that suits me as it probably ensures more variety.
I do know that my book collecting habit is a disease; it comes from all those years of being a secondhand and antiquarian bookseller when, I must confess, when I attended book fairs and my Dad helped me, he used to say, 'I don't know why you are a bookseller for you never want to sell anything' - he was nearly right! I did sell the books, but reluctantly for I considered all the stock mine!
So, as a disease, I realise I do need counselling but I also know that it would do no good for my book buying habits help keep me sane and give me a great interest now that I have lost my beloved wife and in addition my daughter, also a collector, lives 250 miles away. I should mention that I did collect when Linda was alive and what is more, Linda also collected to acerbate the storage problem.
I do hope that this answer gives you an idea of why there is no planned reading list and I should say that I will carry on adding to the collection come what may. Forget that counselling.
If I do change and create a reading list, I will let you know but I doubt that that is going to happen ... it is as likely as me stopping buying books.
Finally, what a joy to be on goodreads and share stories and reviews with other people.
Like probably most of our goodreads readers, I have a huge collection of books and even though I am rapidly running out of room, I do keep adding to it. For instance my daughter visited a couple of weeks ago and we went on buying sprees to car boot sales and various shops with the result that, during her week's stay, I added a further 86 books to my collection.
And that is the reason I do not have a reading list. Every lot of new books that come in (and believe it or not, hardly a day goes by without at least one purchase - and normally many purchases) I peruse and often decide that there is at least one that I must read next. In addition, when I look over my shelves (sadly some books are in wardrobes and are more difficult to get at) I always see something that I think 'I must read that next' - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, it depends on what has come in. Hence no planned reading list!
I realise that perhaps this is an odd way to go about my reading but it seems to suit me and with such a random way of dealing with the problem, I never do know what I am likely to be reading next ... and again that suits me as it probably ensures more variety.
I do know that my book collecting habit is a disease; it comes from all those years of being a secondhand and antiquarian bookseller when, I must confess, when I attended book fairs and my Dad helped me, he used to say, 'I don't know why you are a bookseller for you never want to sell anything' - he was nearly right! I did sell the books, but reluctantly for I considered all the stock mine!
So, as a disease, I realise I do need counselling but I also know that it would do no good for my book buying habits help keep me sane and give me a great interest now that I have lost my beloved wife and in addition my daughter, also a collector, lives 250 miles away. I should mention that I did collect when Linda was alive and what is more, Linda also collected to acerbate the storage problem.
I do hope that this answer gives you an idea of why there is no planned reading list and I should say that I will carry on adding to the collection come what may. Forget that counselling.
If I do change and create a reading list, I will let you know but I doubt that that is going to happen ... it is as likely as me stopping buying books.
Finally, what a joy to be on goodreads and share stories and reviews with other people.
Gerry Wolstenholme
What a great question but I am probably not the best person to answer it as I do not feel that I have a novel in me. However, should that not be the case (doubtful!) I think I would have to write about spies and spying. And that is because (a) I have always been interested in the subject since Burgess and Maclean days but (b) more relevant to the question is the fact that when I was in Government service I attended an intense three-day security course run by the security services. It was so intense that every night after it ended I walked circuitously back to my office for I imagined that I was being followed by spies who wanted to get into my mind and extract secrets from me. I feel sure that I could work something around that as a beginning ... perhaps it would be like PG Wodehouse's 'Not George Washington', that is 'An Autobiographical Novel'! Ah well, I can dream!
Gerry Wolstenholme
Jeeves and Wooster.
Because although Bertie Wooster is ostensibly the boss, without Jeeves, he would, and occasionally does, fall apart! Their relationship is also so full of humour that it is difficult not to like them.
A close second is Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child's characters. I do enjoy their relationship and Lola-speak is very funny, so funny that I sometimes use it!
Because although Bertie Wooster is ostensibly the boss, without Jeeves, he would, and occasionally does, fall apart! Their relationship is also so full of humour that it is difficult not to like them.
A close second is Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child's characters. I do enjoy their relationship and Lola-speak is very funny, so funny that I sometimes use it!
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