"I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists.
John Steinbeck
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They say you always remember your first; well this is it. It's dedicated to the students of Haslingden High School who helped me write it every Wednesday morning. Those lessons were the most rewarding I can remember in almost forty years of teaching.
Each week I read them the chapter I'd written the night before. They passed judgement and discussed what they thought/hoped would happen next.
This is the result.
This is my blockbusting non-seller. It exists as a movie script and is readily adaptable to a couple of TV series in case any Netflix agents stumble in.
In the year of my birth, the Allies launched Operation Torch in North Africa. My story moves on from there, detailing the American camps full of hard-line Nazis and an unlikely love story that flourished behind the barbed wire.
And there were the escapes; over one hundred a day. This is the story of the only escapee unaccounted for according to authentic military records.
And so I sought my Place in the Sun. Moving to Thailand from the Rossendale Valley was not easy. Sunshine EVERY day was a hardship which took years to overcome.
I entered a short story competition in a local magazine and WON! The 1000 baht was the first instalment of my career as a professional writer.
My stories became a regular monthly feature of The Pattaya Trader. Initially the main characters were all about foreigners in Thailand. As I became more confident I moved into Thai and foreign relationships.
Sixty stories later I had my third book.
'Amazing Thailand' was the catchphrase used to attract tourists to holiday here. There was a different side, however.
Like the previous book of short stories, this collection began life in a local newspaper; Pattaya Daily News. My pay went up accordingly to 3000 baht a WEEK! Suddenly I did not have to iron my own shirts!
The first article was about my teacher's speciality- Shakespeare. Thai plays were discovered 'All's Well' 'Much Ado about Nothing' if you catch my drift.
Through my columns the original author of the Bond books was uncovered - Somkinda Tealeaf.