Published life begins at 60 for writer

t.cork@bepp.co.uk

After a career spent in IT systems with the Ministry of Defence, Alan Barrett approached his 60th birthday with quiet determination.

He realised time was running out to write the novel he knew he had inside him – and he did just that. And now, three years on and two months after he retired, his psychological crime thriller Shadows is taking the book world by storm and he's already writing two more novels.

With orders from across the country and in the US within the first three weeks of it being released, his publishers are already asking for a sequel and he's swapped the daily commute to Bath with attending book-signings in Waterstones.

The 63-year-old said receiving the first complimentary copies of the book was 'a special moment', and he never dreamed that putting his ideas down for the first time around the time of his 60th birthday would lead to him become a paid, published author.

"I was approaching 60 and like a lot of people out there, I knew I had a book inside me. But you never get round to writing them. I realised I'd better do it soon, so spent evenings, weekends and holidays writing. I was working for the MoD at Endsleigh in Bath and for the last year for Boeing. I retired a couple of months ago, but by then I knew it was going to be a success. I found a lot of tips and advice on how to get a publishing deal, sent off samples of chapters and manuscripts, and publishers Olympia liked it.

"I kept re-writing it four or five times, each time they would send it back to see if I was happy. In the end, I was happy with it.

"It's set in a run-down large suburban housing estate, with all the antisocial problems you can imagine. It's not based on anywhere in particular, just a generic place somewhere in the Midlands. From within that place there emerges a serial killer, but also within the story is a main character wrestling with his inner demons. I'm told it's quite dark, and people say it's a real page-turner, which is nice. The first chapter is supposed to really grab your attention and keep it."

Mr Barrett and Amy Fletcher, who designed the artwork, will be at Waterstone's in Trowbridge this Saturday, and at the Chippenham branch the following Saturday, March 3. In between he is giving a presentation at Melksham Library on March 1 – a place where he attended a similar event with a local author, which inspired him to start writing three years ago.