Author John Martin’s got the writing bug after penning first novel

The retired surveyor, of Brecks, published his debut thriller, The Ring’s List, under the pen name Jade Nicole-Bracken, and has begun thinking about a follow-up.

“I thought at the time I was writing the story that that would be it but I have begun thinking about doing the before and after,” he admitted.

John (pictured) drew heavily on his career in property in dreaming up the crime thriller storyline, which revolves around Stephen Johns, who is wrongly convicted of murder and emerges from prison thirsty for revenge on the true culprits behind the killing.

The story takes Johns to south to the English Home Counties and west to Florida’s Gulf Coast, where he finds himself caught up in the murky world of large-scale fraud and organised crime.

John said: “Writing a book was something I had wanted to do for a while and I thought I had it in me.

“I have done a lot of genealogy researching my family tree and that involved writing but not fiction.

“When my two granddaughters were young, I was talking to them about them having done some story writing at school and it all arose from them saying: “Why don’t you write one yourself?”

“I made a start on the story and when I fully retired I got back into it.

“I had done bits and pieces some years ago and left it for a bit and then looked into the publishing side of things.

“I rattled through it for the first half of the book then I had worked out the ending and I must admit that it was planning it all to come together that took the work.”

John added: “It was always going to be a mystery. Quite a few of the ideas came from my knowledge of property and the illegal activities that can happen.

“I used to do mortgage valuations and came across some examples of what could be done.”

John said his favourite authors were Dennis Wheatley, Jack Higgins and Dan Brown– “All the classic thriller writers,” he said.

Asked if he had experienced any hiccups on going into print, he said: “I went down the self-publishing route and there are a few things I might do differently if I did it again, especially around the marketing side.

“It’s gone reasonably well. Some of my family have been very kind and are proud I've got it together.”

He explained the first two names of his pen name had been taken from his grand-daughters, adding: “I had this thing about writing it under a pen name but I'm not sure if I would do so again.

“There are quite a few female authors that write with a Male pen name but not too many the other way round.”

John, who is married with three grown-up daughters, added: “It was all written in the third bedroom, which is now something of a study.

“I began writing with paper and pencil before typing it up and in the end I would start typing it all — with a few amendments along the way of course!”

The Ring’s List published by Troubadour and available in paperback or ebook format. Search for the title online for more details.