M C I Hinchliffe
Malcolm C I Hinchliffe is an author of action-adventure Sci-Fi and horror-thriller novels for both adults and teens. His body of work includes the Intersect series, and the Apocalypse series.
To add to his body of work is now a children's book - Santa's Story. It was inspired by his own children's questions about how Santa came to be.
He was born in Sydney, Australia, and when not writing, he enjoys time with his family, bike riding, and sailing on the beautiful Sydney Harbour.
The Path Taken
As the saying goes, everyone has at least one book in them, and this is how my own self-publishing journey unfolded.
30 years ago, I had the idea of writing a sci-fi story, but I had to wait another 10 years before computers developed enough so I could begin writing. Putting words down on paper was just too hard for me. Then another 5 years passed before I completed my first novel as I was writing it on a laptop while travelling to and from work on the train – the only quiet time I could get.
After this, I got the writer's bug and knocked out the sequel to the first novel, and this took another 3 years to complete. As it was in the late 90s, the only way to get published was to approach a publisher. I tried a number in Australia and some in the UK and the US, and only to get the usual response of – we are not taking on any new work right now. So, I gave up.
Some 10 years later, online self-publishing became available, and I jumped at the chance to see if my work was really any good. I couldn’t afford to pay someone to create the book cover, and as necessity is the mother of all inventions, I learnt how to do it myself. Published my first ebooks and was soon rewarded with a few positive reviews.
Inspired by the notion that I was not terrible, I began the journey of writing my next series – I just can’t seem to fit a story in just 1 book! Finished part 1 of the two-part series - Apocalypse, and sent it off to my editor for a good polishing up. Halfway through the book, my editor said to me that she was really enjoying the story and said that I had a flair for writing – I nearly fell off my chair when I heard this! I wonder if JK Rowling felt the same when a publisher said they liked her work only after the first 12 threw the Harry Potter story in the bin!
I launched the first book of the new series to the online world and received some positive reviews. I have now finished part 2 of the Apocalypse series and was launched in 2025.
From left of field, I was inspired to write a children’s book after finding answers to some pressing questions by my own children about Santa. The book - Santa’s Story was born. It only took 2 weeks to write the story, but it took 2 years to create the artwork! I have a new respect for graphic artists.
Here we are today, five books later and still keen to write more.
The Shadows of Influence
Being an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy adventure stories, it was inevitable that I would be inspired to join these fraternities. It was in my youth that I first saw the movie Star Wars, and like most other kids in the seventies, it had a huge impact. It was not long before my imagination began forming my own sci-fi world that I would spend countless hours exploring. In time, a mostly formed sci-fi story was formed in my head, and then the urge to put it on paper was too great. That was the birth of Intersect.
Later in my life, the numerous doomsday movies that explored various formats of the end of the world gave birth to the idea that no story or movie had yet attempted to explore the book of Revelation from the Bible. At least in a way that would make sense, as Revelation, if you haven’t read it, is not easy to digest. Then my imagination ran amok again as the Apocalypse series was forged. I wanted to create a story that was relevant to today’s world, but also took on the Apocalypse with a proximity to the book of Revelation and what happened after, and still have the story make sense!
Santa’s Story came from left of field. My two young boys, being very inquisitive, asked questions about Santa and where he came from and how he got his magic. I didn’t have an answer, nor was I able to find a book that answered these important questions. My imagination went to work again, and soon I was able to answer these very important questions for my boys by reading them – Santa’s Story.