A south Wales man who wrote his debut novel while his sons had swimming lessons and football training has raised £355 for St David’s Hospice Care.
Authors receive a number of free copies of their book from their publisher. Lee Coates, from Creigau, asked readers to make a donation to the charity in exchange for one of these signed 30 books. The 47-year-old Cardiff Council worker wrote most of his book, The Look, while his children took part in sports actitives.
He said: “I’d say ‘yeah, well done lads. Yes, I saw that goal, I saw that hat trick’ but I’d busy scribbling away. So over a period of 18 months I managed to write my first novel. I gave it to a few friends and my wife, who has the inability to lie. So I knew if she hated it, she’d tell me. Basically, I wanted to know I wasn’t making a fool of myself. I sent it to a few publishers, had a few rejections, but The Book Guild said they’d love to publish it and it was published back in May.”
“My family are proud of me, especially my kids as well. I thought they were going to hate me for not watching them play football or scoring the winning goal. But after they finished each match they’d come back and say ‘how many words are you on? How many chapters have you done now dad?’ One day my son came running out of school and they were doing ‘walk a mile’. And they saw someone by the boundary of the school reading my book and Josh, my eldest, was saying to his mates ‘that’s my dad’s book’, so bless him, they are kind of proud.”
He said it “was so exciting” to get the acceptance letter.
“Getting that initial letter was just mind-boggling,” said Lee, “and I still can’t believe it now. I saw my book in Cardiff Waterstones and was like ‘right take a picture’. It’s an unbelievable experience.”
His dad and father-in-law both died from pancreatic cancer. When he got the 30 free copies of his book he decided to offer them for a minimum donation of £10 with every penny going to the south Wales charity.
Click here to order Lee’s debut book, The Look.
Order ‘The Look’ by Lee Coates
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The description of The Look
Jim is a self-employed web developer living in Cardiff. Successful professionally, the future also looks rosy for his personal life, having recently proposed to his girlfriend, Ffion. However, when the couple decide to celebrate their engagement with his much-loved dad, Callum, Jim’s world is tilted on its axis.
Jim is convinced he spotted his dad staring at him – just for a split second – with a look of pure hatred. Did he imagine it? However, when a series of bizarre and catastrophic events strike Jim’s life in quick succession, he starts to wonder if the look he received from his father could mean something.
Eventually, Callum makes a confession that will lead to the total collapse of Jim’s life as he knows it…