“It Just Flowed”

A good many people while away their hours musing about the book they are going to write one day, and never get around to putting pen to paper, or finger to keyboard.

GrownUps member Owen Clough is not one of those. In January this year, at the tender age of 66, he sat down to write his first novel, which is currently undergoing its final edits at a publishing house and will be available to the public shortly, both as a hard copy and  an ebook.

115,000 words and an intricate storyline would be impressive from many people, but almost more so from the man who wagged school from the age of 14 to go fishing and never went back.

“I was kind of all fingers and thumbs as a young bloke,” says Owen. “In those days, boys were supposed to be very practical and work with their hands, but I really should have studied English and languages. We moved schools when I was 14 and I went from loving school to hating it. It took 10 weeks or so before I was caught fishing by a policeman instead of going to school. I caught a fair few over the time – I had to hide them from Mum and Dad of course!”

After fudging his age by a couple of months (who hasn’t at some point?), he started work as a store man for the Farmers Trading Company, and didn’t miss school at all.

“I really wasn’t a writer even at school, I couldn’t even write an essay,” he says, “but the idea of a book has been in the back of my mind for ages.” 

It took a chance conversation with a younger cousin to get his creative juices flowing. “She is in Australia and had just had a fantasy novel published,” says Owen. “She told me I could do it too after I expressed interest, so I sat down and it just flowed.”

Fortune smiled on him in the form of his daughter Tania, who is a graphic designer, working with a newly formed publishing house in Wellington, Lang Publishing, who champion the work of New Zealand authors.

“Tania made the introductions and the next thing I know, I got an email saying they were interested,” he says.

His first novel Whispers of the Past, follows the fortunes of ‘three young fellas tramping in Tongariro Natinal Park culling wild pigs for DoC’ when they are caught in a mist and transported back in time.

He is currently writing the sequel, Shadows of the Mind. His wife Kaye is the one he trusts to do the first edit of his work and give a sound opinion.

Life has taken a few twists and turns for the Cloughs. Owen married Kaye and they have lived in both the North and South Islands (he’s originally a northerner, but now supports the Crusaders most of the time). His career has been long and varied, working (in no particular order) on the railways, as a salesman, a tram driver, a farmer, freezing worker, limousine driver and as a member of the New Zealand Air Force.

After the earthquakes in Christchurch (and several house repairs), the Cloughs sold up and made their 11 metre long motorhome their base. They have long been enthusiasts of holidays in the motorhome and now spend some time house sitting and some time travelling.

Owen is a keen tramper, explorer and genealogist; a quietly spoken chap who tells a thoroughly great story. Keep and eye out on GrownUps and in your local book store for his first novel. Or maybe it’s time you started writing your own?