A six month stay in Broadstairs has inspired a writer to create four books – with the first one of the series now published.
Dad-of-two Michael Dowle stayed in the town some four years ago and has featured it as the backdrop to his first novel, Laura Come Back To Me.
The grandad-of-four now lives in Dover and decided to take the plunge as a full-time writer after an accident meant he had to give up his job as a postman.
The 57-year-old said: “The first book took years. I’d been putting it down but after I had a fall in January 2017 and was unable to go back to work, I returned to it.
“I’d read a Stephen King book about writing and there were three tips; get rid of the phone, set an alarm and give yourself a target, say 1,000 words.
“The book said about sitting in a room with the curtains shut so there were no distractions. I did that and it worked.
“The first book was published in April, it means I am allowed to call myself an author now! The second book is written and I have the plots for 3 and 4. They are all connected by the characters and Broadstairs features in all of them and is massively important in the finale.”
Laura Come Back To Me charts the story of Jack and Laura who meet in 2004, both aged 16, in her father’s antique shop in Broadstairs.
Laura attended Charles Dickens school, while Jack went to Dane Court. They fall in love and run the antique shop together for the next ten years.
In 2014, they ask each other to get married. Within an hour of saying yes, while at the train station, Laura saves a small boy’s life. But tragedy strikes.
She dies, in Jack’s arms!
His mother tells him they can bring Laura back; Jack thinks she’s crazy.
Jack’s brother Harry arrives back from Ireland where he is a priest-in-training, convincing him to talk to their mother.
He starts to believe her when she tells him about the Book of Scrolls, the incantations, and the stones; they need Dempsey, who is Laura’s father, but he is sceptical.
Does he help? Will it work? Or does it fail?
Laura Come Back To Me costs £7.99 and is available from Vanguard Press at Pegasus Publishers at www.pegasuspublishers.com