Book Realities

Another in our Book Realities series of interviews with independent authors, where we discuss their books, their writing methods and what inspired them to be writers in the first place. In this episode we meet Jim Shields. Born and raised in Larne, Northern Ireland, Jim was formerly Emeritus Professor of Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Ulster, retiring from his academic career in 2004. A passionate and lifelong supporter of the arts he was a relative latecomer to creative writing, but once started he has striven to make up for lost time. Seasons of Affection is his third published collection of short stories. He has no intention of it being his last.

Jim, still living in Larne with his Annette, (where they regularly entertain their five children and five grandchildren) is joined in conversation with Ian Hooper, a fellow-Larne native, although now living in Australia. Together they discuss, Seasons of Affection, and how it explores the cares, life’s and loves of his hometown’s inhabitants across the generations. These are the people you could meet on any day in any town. But the folk within this collection of stories all live in the author’s home town. A small, ordinary town inhabited by ordinary people, busy with the everyday task of living.

Yet within the stories that span a century or more, is a central thread of caring; for partners and children, for wider family and friends. For the town itself; its heritage and history. Each of the characters is also searching for friendship, independence, affection, love and self-respect. As the seasons in the natural world transition in colour and personality, so too do the ordinary people in this ordinary town, revealing their hidden needs and their hidden selves in the pursuit of happiness. From tales set within the pandemic, as young and old feel their way through a dramatically changing world bedeviled by fake news, to tales from the Victorian era, it seems that the season may pass, but our affections remain true.