High Wycombe author releases first novel (From Bucks Free Press)

High Wycombe author releases first novel

12:50pm Saturday 9th March 2013 in Freetime By Andy Carswell

AN EIGHT year journey has come to end for first-time author Gary Hamilton with the release of his debut novel.

'The Fixer' is the first book to be written by the dad of two from High Wycombe, focusing on the mysterious world of Kenneth Johnson.

A force above the law, he's tasked with helping track down a woman kidnapped when a Jamaican diamond smuggling ring goes awry.

Mr Hamilton, 49, said the seed of the story was sewn by something that happened to him when he was an innocent party abroad, and from his time growing up in Jamaica where gun battles would take place outside his school's gates.

He said: "The original inspiration was an experience I had in an airport in France. I travel quite a bit for my job and I was held for two to three hours. They suspected my passport was fake.

"I took that feeling into the story. At the start of the book one of the characters is accused of something he hasn't done. He was targeted as being a criminal when he wasn't."

From there he was inspired to pick up pen and paper for his first attempt at writing fiction.

Mr Hamilton said: "I started writing the book itself about five years ago but had the idea of writing it another three years prior to that. It's been an eight year journey.

"The only writing I'd done was technical writing because of my job as an IT architect. I'd never done any fictional writing before - it was quite a departure from what I'm used to."

And the story he's ended up with is a dramatic departure from what he had in mind when he first set to work five years ago.

He said: "When I started writing initially, it wasn't the story I've written. I re-wrote the original story because I didn't like it. I gave it some more thought and played around with the characters.

"The main character originally didn't have much prominence but it seemed to be an interesting character. I played around and explored it and it added more to the story.

"Originally the main character was the fixer. In the original story it was more about him - now it's more focused on the people around him."

Having got the writing bug, Mr Hamilton is hoping The Fixer is the first part of a mini series.

He said: "I have two prequels planned - two of the characters in the book have a certain air of mystery about them and I'd like to explore them. I also have a sequel in mind.

"I hope it doesn't take as long to write again. The majority of authors try to write one book a year - I'd love to get to that."

The Fixer (Published by Matador is available for purchase online at retailers including Amazon.com and can be ordered at all good bookstores. For more information visit www.garyrhamilton.com

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