Westbury author self-publishes debut novel to Kindle

The debut novel of Westbury author, Paul Laville, entitled ‘Awake In The Dark’ was launched exclusively on Kindle on 7th December, just in time for Christmas.

A pacey, urban thriller, ‘Awake In The Dark’ tells the story of Jason Jones, an edgy, contemporary artist obsessed with the sensationalised murders of a serial killer whose victims are returned to the streets as horrific grotesques.

When the mutilated body of a friend is discovered too close to home, Jason finds himself racing against time to unmask a dangerous killer in order to save the ones he loves. Drawn into a world of violence and terror that stretches right back into his own tormented past, JJ begins to realise that he isn’t the only one fixated on the art of murder.

Paul Laville has lived in Westbury for 12 years and this is his first novel, published under the name of his own company T21Media.

Whilst working in the corporate world for the last 15 years Paul’s ambition was to write and publish a series of his own novels. He said, “I just never seemed to find the time. I had loads of ideas and half-started projects that were just waiting to get fully underway.

“I’ve written short stories that have been published in small press magazines and I’ve written online sales copy and product descriptions for companies selling everything from tablets and wearable tech to flower delivery services. But a novel is a different beast. It takes time, utter dedication and a serious amount of hard work.

“You also need to have the best relationship with your spouse and my wife has been absolutely brilliant in supporting me with this project, even pushing me on when needed.”

Since Paul announced the novel on Facebook and Twitter, pre-orders for the Kindle version of ‘Awake In The Dark’ were racking up ahead of its 7th December release. Paul says he is already being asked about the paperback version which is due for release on Amazon’s CreateSpace platform in January 2015.

He said, “It’s really exciting! Not everyone has a Kindle so I was very keen to follow it up with a printed edition. Already it’s looking great. I mean, I thought the cover for the Kindle version was awesome – really freaky – but I’ve just seen some concepts for the printed book and it looks utterly amazing.

“I’m releasing things on Facebook that people are engaging with right now ahead of the book’s official release day: images, extracts, little teasers – and we’ll be adding to that as the audience builds. I’ll be showing the printed edition cover on Facebook first because the fans that have grown there have been incredibly supportive sharing the news and the posts so I’m keen to reward them where I can.

“Basically I don’t have a massive marketing machine behind me so I’m trying to reach out to as many people as possible. Take a look at the FB page to see what it’s all about and if you’d like to support a local writer and you enjoy well-written, suspenseful thriller novels then give this one a try. I’m sure you’ll like it!”