Hi from Nigel Oakley

I am a new-ish member of ACW, and this is my first blog. So, I thought (as is usual with these things) I’d better introduce myself.

Firstly, and this won’t surprise you, I am a writer. My first novel ‘Warrior Princess, Errant Page,’ came out in March this year. As the tagline puts it: “Sparks fly when Princess Emma meets royal Page Podevin: can their friendship survive Good King Wenceslas’s assassination?” The novel is my take on the story of King Wenceslas’s page, the unnamed actor in the Christmas carol, and his relationship with the Anglo-Saxon Princess Emma (who just happens to be Alfred the Great’s granddaughter) who has been sent out from England at the tender age of fourteen, to marry into Wenceslas’s family.

The genesis of the book came from my sons who (when they were little) asked their daddy ‘who was the page?’ after they had sung the carol at their Christmas concert. Unfortunately, having at the time only just completed my PhD (theological ethics if anyone is interested), I disappeared down several rabbit holes of research. It therefore took sixteen years for the story to appear in its final version – and is much more of a grown-up’s tale than originally envisioned. And yes, I do re-tell the story covered by the carol, but hopefully with a bit more realism. Book two, ‘Podevin and the Queen’s Death,’ is due out late November or early December.

 

Secondly, I’m old enough to belong to the University of the Third Age (u3a to its friends). Yes, apart from the ACW groups I go to, I also go to a u3a writing group. On the plus side, it makes sure there’s at least one new short story ready to go up on my website www.nigeloakleywrites.com every month. However, I have also recently (so recently I’m worried about getting blisters) joined a u3a walking group: eight miles used to be no problem; now, I’m not so sure. Maybe, if time and energy permits, I’ll see what else the u3a gets up to.

 

Thirdly (the fun fact), I hold the first two parts of a glider’s licence. I never did get to do part C, but I held on to the certificate saying I had parts A and B for years! It is a long time ago, but for three years, when I was at school, I was a member of the RAF cadets. I, and several others, had the chance to go an RAF gliding school. Sitting in the glider at 2,000 feet, the only sound the rush of the wind over the wings, while doing my first and only solo circuit of an airfield, is a cherished memory. God was in his heaven and all was right with the world.