A YOUNG mum has completed and published her debut novel while working full time and bringing up a toddler – and is already itching to write her next.
Caroline Hands, of Willingale Road, Debden, is the author of The UnBound – the first book in a planned fantasy trilogy.
Its 291 pages are the product of three years of late nights as the 32-year-old juggled writing with working and looking after two-year-old son Leo.
“It’s quite difficult. It’s mainly been after eight o’clock at night and it’s until 1am or 2am,” she said.
“But now that I’ve published this one, a couple of people have emailed me to ask when the next one’s coming out. So I’m starting to itch to finish the trilogy.”
Mrs Hands, who grew up in South Africa, has had aspirations of becoming a writer since childhood – but found herself taking a different route after moving to the UK in 1997.
“I’m actually a project manager doing business development for local government,” said Mrs Hands, who works for Newham Borough Council.
“It’s difficult because in my job I spend a huge amount of time with the chief executive of the council and lawyers and I have to be very serious all the time.
“But I’ve been writing stories and posting them anonymously on the internet for four or five years and they started to go down well."
The UnBound - which has been published as an electronic book under the pen name C.M. Hands – tells the tale of a prince who leads a band of strangers in a battle to save his kingdom from a bloodthirsty enemy.
“I would say it’s quite a classic fantasy story, with a bit of sorcery here and there. There are no vampires or anything like that,” said Mrs Hands, who is married to Steve and is expecting her second child.
She cites American fantasy writer Raymond E. Feist as her main influence – but has managed to find some inspiration in her day job.
“The story’s got a slight political and military spin to it because there’s rebellion in the kingdom,” she said.
“It’s actually very similar to the situation with a Tory government and a Labour-controlled council.”
The UnBound is now available on Amazon and Mrs Hands hopes to publish its follow-up by December.
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