Goodreads asked John Ironmonger:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

John Ironmonger 'The Coincidence Authority' / 'Coincidence' started, for me, with the character of Thomas. In many ways, I’m rather like him. I prefer to believe that everything in the universe obeys the laws of science and mathematics. I wondered what would happen if Thomas’ world-view was to be challenged by events that appeared to contradict his comfortable calculations.

But I was also inspired by Africa. As a boy I’d spent some time living and working in Northern Uganda, and for a long time I'd wanted to write about this beautiful part of the world; in particular I was anxious to shine some light on the impact that Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army have had upon the region, and to write - even obliquely - about the horrors of child abduction for warfare. When I discovered that I could weave this into the tale of Thomas and Azalea, then I knew I had an interesting story.

flag