Member Showcase: Heather Flack

Heather, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the monthly showcase. I’m going to start with the quick fire round, so buckle up and off we go.


If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be and why?

Aled Jones (the singer) – he can brighten up any day.

Have you met anyone famous? If so, in what context? 

Arthur Blessitt – I was involved in running one of his missions back in the ’70s when he was a well-known evangelist.


If you could travel to just one country in the world, where would it be? 

New Zealand because it has fantastic scenery and beautiful gardens.


What’s your favourite song and why? 

I don’t have one! A favourite piece of music is Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, as it got me into classical music.


What is your favourite colour and why? 

 Jade green because it suits my red hair, so makes me look good and therefore feel good. 

Where is your favourite place to write? 

 My living room, often at the dining table.


Pen or keyboard? 

 Pen and scrap paper. I am a fast touch typist, so type up the material later, in short bursts.


Now for a few more in depth questions.


How did you get started writing?

I wrote as a child. I loved books and writing stories. In 1982 I bought a cottage at a place which had once been “seized by the Danes”. That phrase sparked some stories!


I know you have just brought out your first novel. Can you give our readers a flavour of what it is about? 

 It’s called “Ironside – The English King who fought the Danes”. I discovered Edmund Ironside when I researched how a place could be “seized by the Danes” and thought his story would make a brilliant novel. It has taken 30 years to come back to him and his desperate struggle to drive the invading Danes out of England. It is set in the years 1013 to 1016. It is 1000 years since he was King.

Why did you write this book? 

It demanded to be written! The idea of writing his story came back to me in the autumn of 2014 and would not go away.

What else have you written during your career? 

 My published works are:

Bewdley – The early years This is the case for Bewdley being a 13th century town and not 15th as people claimed.

Pieces of Wyre Short stories, historical facts, bits and pieces all relating to places and events in the Wyre Forest area (my local district)

Bewdley under the White Rose Written with pupils of the local high school, a fictional account of Bewdley in the period 1448 to 1485 with historical facts interwoven.

God’s Back Garden A history of Immanuel Church, Kings Norton, Birmingham (the result of a commission)


Have you got a favourite genre to read? If so why? 

Historical fiction as it brings the past alive, though I do get cross when an author “changes history”!

How would you describe your writing regime? 

Non-existent. When I get an idea for a project, it is often all-consuming. I write while eating and travelling as well as making specific writing time. The words pour out. No project, no words.

Which writer or writers has had the most influence on your own writing? 

Edith Pargeter and her “Brothers of Gwynedd” books, but I also like her Cadfael books, which she writes as Ellis Peters.

Where can readers buy your books? 

From me! See my website www.flackbooks.weebly.com. They are also for sale in Bewdley Tourist Information Centre and BewdleyEmporium. The ebook is available on Amazon.