A Pelsall business owner-turned-author has published his first novel.
Jim Parsons first put pen to paper in 2020, as the country went into lockdown, to craft his debut novel. After going back to it a few months later, he is now the proud author of a book, named The Day I Won £117,998,147.47.
The main character is loosely based on himself, with other characters also based on members of his family, but the story is (sadly, for him) pure fiction: it tells how a man won a massive lottery win and how it changed his life – and the lives of others – for the better.
Jim, who owned Walsall Wood-based JAP Fencing until he retired at the age of 66 last year, said he now has the writing bug after penning the 272-page novel.
“Everybody dreams about winning the lottery; it was something I’d thought about,” he said. “I thought I would write a book about it. I really got into it.
“At first I wasn’t going to get it published, but my family said it was a good book and an easy read, so I contacted a couple of publishers and Michael Terence Publishing agreed to publish it. It was professionally edited and is now on sale.”
The talented writer, who lives with his wife Julie, has now turned his hand to writing a crime novel, set in Mexico, called Taken Without Consent, and is already drafting his third book, a dystopian story set in 2424, when planet Earth is unrecognisable from today.
“I don’t stop,” he laughed. “I am quite busy with family, looking after the garden and going to the gym with my wife, but writing is a bit different. It was something I hadn’t done before 2020 and now I enjoy it.”
The Day I Won £117,998,147.47 by James Parsons is available on Amazon. ISBN: 1800944357.
Written by Jayne Howarth.