THE EVE OF ARMAGEDDON

THE STORY

The story behind the novel began in 1979 when a friend (Jim Ramsden) gave me Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke to read. I never finished it because I didn't think much of it. I told Jim that 'I could write better'. He said 'OK then, why don't you'.

I was in my Industrial Year at University and happened to be reading a book about theories of Aliens and a hollow Earth and thought it would make a good basis for a novel. I started to write the story in an old exercise book I had lying around. I wrote it on the bus in the morning and any spare time I had. As I finished each chapter I gave it to people to read and they encouraged me to carry on with it.

This is the very first page.

FIRST PAGE

The whole story filled 3 exercise books with many extra pages taped in where I had added to the plot. When it was finished, I copied everything into a hard backed notebook which my Dad gave to one of his friend's who got his secretary to type it up.

I then bought the Writer's and Artist's Yearbook and sent it to agents who specialised in Science Fiction.

This is my first rejection letter.

REJECTION

In actual fact I framed the letter and just let the manuscript lie in a drawer. I reckoned that the rejection letter was about as far as I would ever get with it. I had proven to myself and others that I could write a book and as I was under no illusion that I was up there with the likes of Arthur C. Clarke I just moved on.

I suppose it was around mid 1999 when my Dad said 'hey, what about the book', that I got to thinking about it again and scanned it into my computer. I then set about editing it and updating it. It's amazing how much things have changed in 20 years, even in Science Fiction, so I had to modify a few things. It took me about 3 months to finish it and submit it again. Well the rest is history now and everyone will get a chance to read it and make their own judgement on how good or bad it is.

This is the first page in the published version.

CHAPTER 1

Many people have their own webpages and many have personalised number plates but, it's great to have an ISBN number. Mine is......

0-595-09542-9

For those that want to buy it, the book can be ordered through your local book store or online at

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes & Noble
now.

So what's it about then? Well to quote the cover notes; "A British Expedition in search of a fabled lost city in the Polar ice cap stumble upon an ancient alien civilisation. Transported deep within the earth they discover a race of beings who have been monitoring man's development for millennia. At first the explorers are overawed by the advanced technology and knowledge of the strangers but gradually they find that the aliens are not quite as benevolent as they seemed. What follows is a race against time as the explorers battle to save mankind from being eradicated from the planet."

If you want to read the first chapter then CLICK HERE to go to the publishers site and have a look.
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A Flying Doctor Production
last updated on 30th October 2000