Former Young local and sports television journalist Will McCloy has penned his first novel, combining his own experiences to tell a story about personal and social connection, finding the courage to confront your past and the strength to shape your future.
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The book Before I Slip Away was published a month ago and has been doing very well.
Will's novel tells the story of Jack Lindsay who battles with anxiety, shame and guilt after an accident nearly killed his best friend and sent his dad bankrupt. Jack moves to a new school and tries to deal with his nightmares and lies about medication until he meets 70 year old Bart. His chance meeting with Bart awakens something in Jack that he has been hiding, however is no excuse to take part in a kidnapping.
"I am a journalist having worked in sport for the last fifteen odd years and as you would probably appreciate it's very transient," Will said.
When Will says transient he means in the sense that as a journalist you may not focus on one story for too long, it may be a number of stories are required to be worked on every day.
" I really felt that I wanted to create something that had some lasting value," he said.
"I started writing, this has taken me six years to get to the publishing stage.
"You know, six years, two kids, one pandemic, full-time work, all that kind of stuff so it is a bit of a passion project that I've had on the side."
Will said that he wanted the story to be something that readers could connect with and relate to.
"I wanted to write something that was meaningful to people and myself," Will said.
"It is essentially a story about a 16-year-old boy who has gone into his shell a little bit and is battling anxiety after a traumatic accident. It's about his journey of self discovery through a series of unlikely events which culminate in helping an old man break his wife out of a hospice."
Will said he wanted to do something tangible that has some kind of permanent value and he hopes will help people who have been in Jack's situation and not feel so alone.
"I guess it draws a lot on my past experiences but also themes that I've encountered in my work as well, especially how important it is to allow yourself to rely on others," Will said.
Will's book is available at The General Store, all good retailers and from Amazon.
Rebecca Hewson
A local with a love of local news reporting for the people across the Hilltops and Weddin areas.
A local with a love of local news reporting for the people across the Hilltops and Weddin areas.
