Racing, crime & my father, Dick Francis
Dick Francis novels have always been a family affair. ‘I read Dead Cert first because it was the fi rst one Dad had written,’ says Felix Francis, the late jockey’s younger son. ‘I remember being away on holiday when I was about 13 years old, reading them constantly. It was wonderful, I just got into it.’
This is a common reaction to Dick Francis novels. Since Dead Cert was published in 1962, his thrillers have become a worldwide phenomenon. The books (the latest, Refusal, is the 46th) are set predominantly in the world of horse racing, where brave and moral heroes endeavour to abolish the skulduggery threatening the noble sport.
Dick Francis was a British steeplechase jockey, and his name is synonymous with expert knowledge on the topic. For some time, however, questions were asked about who was actually writing his books.
Francis had always called on his son’s opinion for matters of plot, character, and other idiosyncratic details.
‘I was a 17-year-old physics student when I wrote my fi rst part of a Dick Francis book,’ Felix beams. ‘It was a passage about a bomb blowing up an aeroplane, so I went straight to my physics teacher and asked just how much plastic explosive that would take. There was a slight jaw drop.’
'My mother used to call the books “the family business”. The cottage industry was at the cottage, so to speak.’ He explains that his mother, Mary, was pivotal when it came to creating the sentences that so absorbed the readers: ‘My mother was a great believer in the rhythm of sentences, in making them flow. Dad always said that she should have her name on the cover as well.’
Felix embarked on a teaching career as a young man, but he would also work closely with his father on his latest story. ‘Working with him was as easy as anything. He was more than my dad and my boss: he was my best friend. We never had a cross word.’ Long-standing fans will realise that Felix even appears in fi ctional form: the physics teacher in 1981’s Twice Shy was drawn heavily from his personal experience.
Sadly, Dick Francis’s health began to decline, and along with it, his literary endeavours, too. After a fi ve-year hiatus, Francis’s literary agent, Andrew Houston, took Felix out to lunch to explain that unless another one was soon produced to reignite interest, ‘they were all going to slide into oblivion, as almost every other author’s work in history has done. Comparatively few authors’ work survives the test of time.’
Dick Francis with son Merrick (left), wife Mary and Felix (right) after receiving his OBE in 1984
Houston was essentially asking permission to nominate another established crime writer to continue the series. But the writer was never approached. Felix explains: ‘I found myself saying, “Well Andrew, before you ask anyone else, I would like to give it a go.’”
Felix was given two months to write two chapters, which he produced with characteristic Francis flair. His material so impressed the publisher that he was given the instant go-ahead to produce the full copy. ‘But I hadn’t told my father I had written it,’ he reveals.
Poised to pen his first solo novel, Felix first had to convince his father, boss and best friend. All it took was the proposed title – Under Orders – and he was sold. ‘He started making suggestions, most of which I ignored, but some of which I didn’t,’ Felix laughs.
The result was a return to the glory days of Dick Francis and the in imitable detective Sid Halley. The book jumped to the top of the bestseller lists both here and in New York. ‘And suddenly there was talk of doing another one, perhaps even a two-book contract.’ Felix left his job as a teacher to write full time, and hasn’t looked back since.
‘People ask me why I copy my father’s style. My answer is: I don’t. I learnt his style because it was what I grew up with.’ Dick Francis passed away in 2010, but Felix’s novels continue to bear both his and his father’s name – a situation that he is perfectly happy with. ‘I still feel that he is as much a part of my books as I was a part of all those books I grew up with.’
Dead Heat, the book that he was writing as his famous father was deteriorating, could have just as easily inbeen titled, ‘Hospital Rooms I Have Known,’ he remarks sadly. It is evident he misses his father, in both a personal and professional sense.
‘I miss his tips. I loved being able to send him what I had written and wait for the replies.’
The family holidayed in the same hotel in Devon every year, and his absence is marked there too. ‘I miss him especially then. He used to sit at the end of the table, and we never use that place now. That was Dad’s spot.’
The writing continues to be a family endeavour, though. Just as Dick Francis’s wife was key to many of his novels, Felix’s own wife, Debbie, will read his book back to him once it is finished. ‘It takes us about three or four days, and I make lots of notes and then do all the changes. No one else is allowed to read it before it gets submitted.’
Both critics and their enthusiastic readers attest to the enduring quality of the ‘Dick Francis’ brand of writing, but Felix readily concedes that his knowledge of horseracing falls far below that of his late father. ‘My problem is I don’t know the horses. I write about horses that don’t actually exist, so I always know who is going to win the race before it starts!’
The creation of these horses and the myriad other characters in these criminal-busting capers is, however, ‘the best job in the world’.
‘I love it when people say the books are easy to read but believe me, there is no such thing as easy writing. Dad and I worked very hard to get easy reading.
‘To me, reading a book should be a joyous experience. Words should flow off the page like cream, not stick to your throat like barbed wire.’
That sort of sticky situation is best left to Sid Halley and his cohorts… expertly penned by either Francis.
Refusal (A Dick Francis Novel) by Felix Francis, is published by Michael Joseph, priced £18.99
This is a common reaction to Dick Francis novels. Since Dead Cert was published in 1962, his thrillers have become a worldwide phenomenon. The books (the latest, Refusal, is the 46th) are set predominantly in the world of horse racing, where brave and moral heroes endeavour to abolish the skulduggery threatening the noble sport.
Dick Francis was a British steeplechase jockey, and his name is synonymous with expert knowledge on the topic. For some time, however, questions were asked about who was actually writing his books.
Francis had always called on his son’s opinion for matters of plot, character, and other idiosyncratic details.
‘I was a 17-year-old physics student when I wrote my fi rst part of a Dick Francis book,’ Felix beams. ‘It was a passage about a bomb blowing up an aeroplane, so I went straight to my physics teacher and asked just how much plastic explosive that would take. There was a slight jaw drop.’
'My mother used to call the books “the family business”. The cottage industry was at the cottage, so to speak.’ He explains that his mother, Mary, was pivotal when it came to creating the sentences that so absorbed the readers: ‘My mother was a great believer in the rhythm of sentences, in making them flow. Dad always said that she should have her name on the cover as well.’
Felix embarked on a teaching career as a young man, but he would also work closely with his father on his latest story. ‘Working with him was as easy as anything. He was more than my dad and my boss: he was my best friend. We never had a cross word.’ Long-standing fans will realise that Felix even appears in fi ctional form: the physics teacher in 1981’s Twice Shy was drawn heavily from his personal experience.
Sadly, Dick Francis’s health began to decline, and along with it, his literary endeavours, too. After a fi ve-year hiatus, Francis’s literary agent, Andrew Houston, took Felix out to lunch to explain that unless another one was soon produced to reignite interest, ‘they were all going to slide into oblivion, as almost every other author’s work in history has done. Comparatively few authors’ work survives the test of time.’
Dick Francis with son Merrick (left), wife Mary and Felix (right) after receiving his OBE in 1984Houston was essentially asking permission to nominate another established crime writer to continue the series. But the writer was never approached. Felix explains: ‘I found myself saying, “Well Andrew, before you ask anyone else, I would like to give it a go.’”
Felix was given two months to write two chapters, which he produced with characteristic Francis flair. His material so impressed the publisher that he was given the instant go-ahead to produce the full copy. ‘But I hadn’t told my father I had written it,’ he reveals.
Poised to pen his first solo novel, Felix first had to convince his father, boss and best friend. All it took was the proposed title – Under Orders – and he was sold. ‘He started making suggestions, most of which I ignored, but some of which I didn’t,’ Felix laughs.
The result was a return to the glory days of Dick Francis and the in imitable detective Sid Halley. The book jumped to the top of the bestseller lists both here and in New York. ‘And suddenly there was talk of doing another one, perhaps even a two-book contract.’ Felix left his job as a teacher to write full time, and hasn’t looked back since.
‘People ask me why I copy my father’s style. My answer is: I don’t. I learnt his style because it was what I grew up with.’ Dick Francis passed away in 2010, but Felix’s novels continue to bear both his and his father’s name – a situation that he is perfectly happy with. ‘I still feel that he is as much a part of my books as I was a part of all those books I grew up with.’
Dead Heat, the book that he was writing as his famous father was deteriorating, could have just as easily inbeen titled, ‘Hospital Rooms I Have Known,’ he remarks sadly. It is evident he misses his father, in both a personal and professional sense.
‘I miss his tips. I loved being able to send him what I had written and wait for the replies.’
The family holidayed in the same hotel in Devon every year, and his absence is marked there too. ‘I miss him especially then. He used to sit at the end of the table, and we never use that place now. That was Dad’s spot.’
The writing continues to be a family endeavour, though. Just as Dick Francis’s wife was key to many of his novels, Felix’s own wife, Debbie, will read his book back to him once it is finished. ‘It takes us about three or four days, and I make lots of notes and then do all the changes. No one else is allowed to read it before it gets submitted.’
Both critics and their enthusiastic readers attest to the enduring quality of the ‘Dick Francis’ brand of writing, but Felix readily concedes that his knowledge of horseracing falls far below that of his late father. ‘My problem is I don’t know the horses. I write about horses that don’t actually exist, so I always know who is going to win the race before it starts!’
The creation of these horses and the myriad other characters in these criminal-busting capers is, however, ‘the best job in the world’.
‘I love it when people say the books are easy to read but believe me, there is no such thing as easy writing. Dad and I worked very hard to get easy reading.
‘To me, reading a book should be a joyous experience. Words should flow off the page like cream, not stick to your throat like barbed wire.’
That sort of sticky situation is best left to Sid Halley and his cohorts… expertly penned by either Francis.
Refusal (A Dick Francis Novel) by Felix Francis, is published by Michael Joseph, priced £18.99