What my father did for me

This morning I have been reading a feature in The Observer which called on various prominent high achieving writers to discuss how their relationships with their fathers shaped their lives and their success. It's a very interesting feature and it immediately made one thing very clear to me - the reason why I have never punched through that barrier to become a high achieving author myself, despite being a talented writer. The asnwer? My father didn't feature very strongly in my life after the first couple of years. He disappeared into wars, affairs with other women and eventually into a life where I had no relevance. The only contribution he ever made to my writing was to send me a telegram of congratulation when I won a "Children's Corner" competition run by the Daily Express (My pize was a postal order for 10/6d). So I now have permission, via The Observer, to blame my lack of super-sucess on my father? I don't think I'll bother. You see, it wasn't his fault. He had problems with his father too - a demanding, critical Yorkshire businessman by all accounts, who didn't want his talented son to be an artist or musician. However, I do see the seeds of yet another good story emerging from this - WATCH THIS SPACE