The 'editor known as Percy Stewart' is almost as fictional as the characters in his novels...a bit of a Nelly Dean.

'I have never liked the sound of my own voice, either as a singer or as a speaker.

'Over fifty years ago I absolutely loved the whole collaborative process of performing on stage, but acting and singing badly soon taught me that I'm better at working invisibly behind the scenes, which is why I write fiction instead of speaking my own words.'

'It would be foolish to say "I shall never give an interview" because before I shed this mortal coil I would like to help young people all around Europe, which will cost some serious money and involve a lot of collaboration...something planned in the seventies which might finally be possible in the next few years.

'This spring I did six weeks' voluntary work at a place where my adult life began in 1976. Forty-eight years almost to the day, I was able to reforge a connection with somewhere life-changing, where there are many kind, interesting people who give their time and energy to help others. This time around, I was the only person there who had known the founder, and I therefore have an unusually clear idea of his original vision.  His ideas had a profound impact on my whole life.

'The place and many of the people will be fictionalised in the next book, and obviously it might be necessary to say something to camera when the book becomes a film. I hope to continue the voluntary work next year or even sooner, in France and perhaps some other countries.'

'If a sensitive film-maker wants to hear an Englishman's views regarding how we can help young people to avoid the appalling problems which they are now facing, then yes, I might finally give an interview...but the interviewer will have to read all three books first, to understand what this lifelong project is all about.

'If this had been something easy to explain in a few sound-bites, the way we hear a great European film candyflossed in a pink-sugar Hollywood 'theatrical trailer', there would have been no need to write the novels!

'To understand these books properly, it is perhaps significant to know that the man who wrote them was born in the year when Man first put a satellite into orbit. We have travelled a long way since Sputnik circled our planet in 1957, and the trilogy touches on parts of that journey, as a species and as various collections of individuals.'

'The difference between 'Percy Stewart' and his creator is huge.

'The first time I met a stranger who had enjoyed reading Tunesmith, tinsmith, I almost physically looked over my shoulder for this 'author' whom he was so pleased to meet...it certainly didn't seem like me, out for a bike-ride just the same as usual!

'Having at least two layers of fiction allows me to make fun of both 'the author' and 'the narrator' in these books, to allow natural humour to come through without having to ridicule anything other than my own failings.

'As the main narrator, Jacques has a good heart, but if you read his anecdotes without being swept along by his early fame and hobby-horse opinions, you realise that he can be very foolish indeed. Thankfully, he sometimes realises this himself.'

'When 'Percy' speaks on the page, he does NOT use my own voice, but his pomposity is familiar from my own stupidity over the years. After all, there is something fundamentally pompous about writing tens or hundreds of thousands of words in the hope that other people will read them...hoping to change the world in some way large or small.

'When you tune in to Percy's sometimes arrogant and condescending voice, I hope that you will laugh at him as much as I do!

'Nevertheless, something truly liberating occurs whenever I don Percy's mask.

'While walking through the north of Spain this year, most people came to know me as 'Percy', which made everything so simple. For one thing, I only had to say that I live in Scotland, and with this simple origin I made friends everywhere. Most people in Europe love the Scots, and I only wish that I had been born here!'

Currently compiling Jacques' source-material for Feeding the vultures, the third volume in the Tunesmith Triology, 'Percy Stewart' is therefore unavailable for interview, but detailed background information may be freely quoted from pages which are reached by request from the contact page.