Now available from Pegasus House Publishing is The Goblin Child and Other Stories by Michael Forester.
The author has taken a few minutes out
of his busy schedule for a Q&A about his newest novel.
When did you become interested in storytelling?
My interest in stories is lifelong– I think this is so for all of us, part of the human condition if you will. If someone says to us “I want to tell you a story,” we pay immediate attention. We are curious by nature. All of us have a story to tell, some of us have many. To me they are all part of the same story – the story of the journey we all share. This story has many chapters, many paragraphs, many twists and turns in the plot line. But all of it serves to document who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.
What was your first book/story published?
In the last century I wrote for business. But even back then the books I wrote incorporated stories and attracted readers who saw themselves in those stories and wanted to learn from them. It’s the same with creative writing. We are all drawn to stories in which we can see ourselves – in which we can relate to the characters. The stories that attract us most are those we identify with – where we can position ourselves, as it were, in the story. In this way, each reader makes the story their own story.
My first published creative book was If It Wasn’t For That Dog, the story of my first year with my Hearing Dog, Matt (so yes, I’m deaf). Published in 2008, the book still sells well and is now entering its second edition. The late Sir Anthony Jay (writer of Yes Minister) described it as a ‘hugely enjoyable true life story of how an assistance dog changed a life.’ Bruce Fogle MBE described it as ‘a humorous and heartfelt chronicle about two individuals learning to dance together in perfect harmony.’ I think those two quotes aptly sum up the book.
What inspired you to write The Goblin Child?
Goblin Child evolved slowly over 15 years. It’s a short story collection and even I didn’t fully understand the link between the stories while I was writing them – not until the book was drawn together by the final story in the collection – Circling The Moon. Circling the Moon is a story of interracial love in a racist age. Set partly in Antigua, the inspiration came when I was on the island in 2007. Positioned as the Swansong of a dying poet, The Goblin Child is his collected stories looking back over the journey that has been his life.
What character in The Goblin Child is the most/least like you, and in what ways?