Q & A with Gale Macaulay-Newcombe
Q: I see from the back page of your first book, Thorne’s Quest 1: The Secret Heir, that you’re an Anglican priest who has written a fantasy fiction series. Is that correct?
A: (looks up from typing) No, no, that’s not correct: it’s not all written. I’ve just begun work on book 7, and book 8 currently only resides in my imagination.
Q: That sounds like a dangerous place to leave anything unattended! But, come on: “Anglican priest writes fantasy series”? Explain yourself!
A: Well, I’m tempted to fall back on the Mary Poppins defence. You don’t recall it? Mr. Banks demanded that she explain herself. Mary Poppins drew herself up and said, “I’d like to make one thing perfectly clear: I never explain myself.” Oh, OK, you’re serious. You think it’s incongruous for an Anglican priest to be writing fantasy?
Q: I’m asking the questions, here! But, yes, exactly: doesn’t it strike you as incongruous?
A: No, not particularly. Religious practice is about asking the big questions and making meaning of life. Fantasy fiction, in its own way, does the same thing.
Q: You’ve written a deeply meaningful series?
A: Urgh! I certainly hope not! At least, if I have, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose! I just set out to write a roaring good read about one feisty young woman’s quest to defeat a really bad Enemy.
Q: So it’s a good read?
A: That’s what I hear. You’ll have to check it out for yourself.
Q: Will do. So, tell me a bit more about yourself.
A: Well, I was born in Oakland, Ontario, Canada, and I now live in Hamilton. If you’ve ever been to Hamilton, you may recognize it as the setting for the Sacred City, where the books take place. What else? . . . I’m married and have one child. We have a mini poodle with a Tigger personality. And there used to be Tyr, The Fish That Lived. But, sadly, he didn’t.
Q: (utterly bewildered) Didn’t what?
A: Didn’t live. Try to keep up.
Q: Right. Tell me about your education.
A: I graduated as an Ontario Scholar from the Brantford Collegiate Institute. I also hold an honours B.A. in English Lit. from the University of Guelph and an M.Div. from McMaster Divinity College. I took courses at Trinity College in Toronto. I spent most of my working years in the Anglican Diocese of Niagara doing counselling and supervising counsellors as a certified member of the Canadian Association for Pastoral Practice and Education. Oh, and I was the rector of All Saints Anglican Church in Hamilton –
Q: Please stop!
A: With pleasure. Anyway, I’m retired now, and so I write.
Q: According to your bio, you’re also a fantasy RPGer?
A: Yes, since the early 1980’s. That would be the original advanced edition, of course; we’ll have none of those new-fangled revisions in our house! And I like writing (and playing) mind-bendingly complex murder mystery games. I might see about publishing those sometime, but I’m pretty wrapped up in the Thorne’s Quest sequence right now.
Q: What exactly is a “sequence”?
A: Oh, that’s just a trilogy that didn’t know when to stop.
Q: So, what do you read? What’s your favourite series . . . er, sequence?
A: Barbara Hambly’s The Time of the Dark is probably my favourite. I also like C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner sequence: nine books and no sign of stopping! And Glen Cook’s Black Company books are satisfyingly dark. Then there’s Tolkein’s overly-brief treatment of the destruction of an evil ring, but I try not to be too predictable. If it’s not at least a million words long, I consider it a short story. (ponders for a moment) So, anyway, you didn't tell me: how long do you think this article will be?
Q: (edging nervously toward the door) I’m going to go now, I think.
A: (returns to her typing) Sure, come by any time.