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It’s plane sailing for airport author James
By Elaine Sheridan
Following the celebrated success of his first anthology of short stories
author James Maher has returned with a follow-up an all-new collection
of original stories tailored for people on the move.
The father-of-four has signed another exclusive deal with WH Smith railway
and airport stores and is this week celebrating having his book piled
high in one of the biggest airports in the world Heathrow.
Entitled MoreTwenty4 the collection of 24 short stories are designed for
an easy read which James describes as disposable fiction.
The writer whose late father was a native of Callan in Co. Kilkenny
only started writing three years ago.
And he still works full-time as a human resource consultant.
He said: “Initially, the whole project started as a hobby. I remember
when my children were young I would write silly little fairytales and
incorporate their names into them.”
The 37-year-old later entered a creative writing competition in his local
paper in Bristol and won. That was all the encouragement he needed and
over several months he was commissioned to write several articles.
James realised that airports and railway stations were where the majority
of people bought books and he later signed an exclusive deal with WH Smith
airport branches.
James found success in a very short space of time with his first book
TwentyFour7.
And today he believes that the way forward is to write and publish short-stories
for people on the move.
He said: “The thing that swung it for me was the growth in the travel
industry. People at train stations and airports only have a limited time
to read and airports are always packed with people going somewhere. I
knew that.”
His second book MoreTwenty4 was inspired by the feedback he received from
all corners of the world.
He said: “E-mails from all over Europe and as far as Canada, South
Africa and New Zealand found their way into my mailbox.
“I should have known that with my books being exclusively in travel
stores that they would end up all over the globe.
“It’s hard to believe that stuff I’d written in the
wee small hours is making its way around to so many homes around the world.”
James is now hoping to negotiate a deal where airline companies will stock
his books as in-flight entertainment. |
