The Manx Connection series is based on The Isle of Man for the very simple reason that it’s an island that I know well (I was born there) and it’s an island I love. So far (at the time of writing this) the locations for two books in The Manx Connection series have been outside of the island. Walking on Water takes place in The Netherlands and The Vicar’s Lot takes place in the Dordogne area of France. Why The Netherlands and The Dordogne? It’s simply because, again, I know them both well so I am able to create descriptions that are realistic and give the reader a real feel of the location.
Manx Connection means The Isle of Man
The Isle of Man also known simply as Mann, is a self-governing Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Ireland. Not to bore you with the semantics but The Isle of Man is NOT part of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and, sometimes, Scotland). It is, however part of Great Britain. In 1266, the island became part of Scotland by the Treaty of Perth, after being a part of Norway. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the island came under the feudal lordship of the English Crown in 1399. The lordship revested into the British Crown in 1765, but the island never became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain or its successor the United Kingdom. It has always retained its status as an internally self-governing Crown dependency. In fact the island has the longest continuous parliament in the world (1038 years and counting!)
Apart from being a very beautiful island, the self-governing aspect allows me to create situations that could never be envisaged in any other Western country. For example, in Under the Rock, the Chief Minister (equivalent to a Prime Minister) is kidnapped bay Jihadists. If that happened in Uk or France or USA, there would be aglobal outcry. On the Isle of Man, it raises only a few eyebrows! I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to find situations that suit The Manx Connection, but I still have some new ideas that I’ve not yet used!
