Success: Knaresborough author published after 20 years

After nearly 20 years of trying, the success of Knaresborough author's debut novel shows that talent and persistence does pay off.
Exciting new book - Successful Knaresborough author David C Ayre.Exciting new book - Successful Knaresborough author David C Ayre.
Exciting new book - Successful Knaresborough author David C Ayre.

Having tried hundreds of agents without success, David C Ayre finds his debut adult book The Doomsday Machine, an acclaimed new tech-spy thriller, published by a major publisher.

The gripping and topical tale of an electronics engineer who invents software which could transform the world or, in the wrong hands, destroy it, David says the book’s success is the culmination of nearly two decades of trying.

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He said: “When I heard last year that I was going to get published, I was very pleased. I’d had a lot of rejections.“I first started self-publishing 16 years ago after I’d been in hospital. It was touch and go for a while.”

David, who writes on a desk top computer in his loft conversion, had previously published several books for children on Amazon online, as well as writing the scripts for the pantos in Pannal.After a near miss with a children’s series for the BBC, his first adult thriller The Doomsday Machine emerged almost by accident.

David, who was born in Hertfordshire but has lived in North Yorkshire for 47 years, said: “The book started as a screenplay but I couldn’t finish it. After it had stood idle for a while I eventually realised that it might make a book.”

David, whose says his wife Muriel is his chief editor and critic, said the inspiration for The Doomsday Machine came from his life and times.He said: “I was trained as an electronics engineer at Loughborough University and then moved into software which I’ve made a successful life out of. My stories start with creating the characters then I let the story follow naturally.”

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Publishers Vanguard Press are so pleased with the results, they’ve already commissioned the follow-up.

David said: “I’m influenced by the state of world. In the second book I’ve got the same main character. This time he’s involved with robots that think for themselves.”

The Doomsday Machine is available at Waterstones in Harrogate and Castlegate Books in Knaresborough.

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