A former fireman and Bucks Herald photographer has just published his first novel, a psychological thriller written for nine-13 year olds.
The book by Nick Davies, who lives in Pitstone and writes under the pen name H. E. Joyce, tells the story of a boarding school pupil who suspects that she is in danger because of a new teacher.
The 58 year old admits the book is ‘darkish’ but stresses that he does not expect it to give children nightmares.
He said: “Although it is full of drama, other parts are fairly normal and deal with teenage anxiety and it’s a lot to do with friendship and the value of friendship.
“It’s got a few peculiar twist and turns in it. I can not give the ending away but there’s quite a twist at the end.
“The feedback so far has been quite positive and quite a few adults have read it and said they liked it.”
Originally from Haddenham, Nick spent 18 years at Aylesbury’s fire service headquarters at its former home in Cambridge Street.
His first job after leaving school was with the Bucks Herald in the early 70s, where he worked alongside photographers Maurice Cousins and Barry Keen.
The novel, called Miranda’s Fortune, took him one and a half years to write and has so far been downloaded more than 450 times.
He said: “I just feel, whether it is successful or not, it is something that I always wanted to do.
“I hope it gives a little bit of pleasure to a few hundred people and if it does sell a few more copies I will be happy.”
For more details about Miranda’s Fortune visit {http://www.hejoyce.com|www.hejoyce.com|click here for more}