Could Jersey teacher be the next Dan Brown?

Monday 11 August 2014

A Jersey teacher is celebrating getting his first book published after drawing inspiration from the likes of Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown.

Paul Lister who is the Head of Science at Beaulieu Convent School spent over four years juggling teaching and writing before finally finishing his debut novel “The Blood Bucket Journal”.

Paul said: “Most people have a desire to write a novel at some stage in their life. But juggling work and family commitments meant it took me much longer than I imagined.  I tried to keep a word count each night of what I’d written, as a way of maintaining motivation. Some nights I couldn’t start until nine or ten o’clock and I’d struggle to write a page; other days I might do more.”

The story is set in the north of England in the mid-1980’s and follows researcher Fabio De Sousa, who gets an unsolicited message on an early 1980’s computer network. He’s intrigued and flattered and begins a flirtatious online relationship with his admirer who, it unfolds, knows more about his research work than they should.

Paul said: “The plot takes a series of twist, which I hope aren’t too obvious.  I think thrillers need to do that. A reader needs to be challenged with a novel. Being unable to see how a plot might unfold, but having the simultaneous feelings of delight and satisfaction when a series of plausible events challenge protagonists was something I’d planned to do early on in the initial drafts.

“I chose to write a techno-thriller from the start. Dan Brown, Tom Holt and Jon Land are authors of contemporary thriller fiction where I drew inspiration. Jon Land’s chapters are typically quite short and often end in cliff-hangers. The very nature of a thriller is the cliff-hanger. The task of any suspense novel is to make the reader turn the page. I hope I have achieved this with The Blood Bucket Journal.”

The book is published by Rossendale Books and is available on Kindle or as a paperback.