EMERALD Beach’s Michel Vimal du Monteil can now officially bear the title of published author as his debut novel is off the presses and heading for distribution.

‘Where There is a Will’, published by Hawkeye Books, is set on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and up and down the East Coast of Australia; featuring surf, secrets, revelations and personal discoveries, written in a style that builds a tension and means you just have to turn the page and find out what happens next.

Independent British reviewer Jackie Morris at Just Waving concluded her enthusiastic review with, “I can imagine this as a TV series, and it’s certainly one I would watch.”

“The process of writing is really the process of rewriting,” Michel told News Of The Area.

“My book has been a long time in the making with many iterations.”

The pivotal point from turning his writing hobby into a more serious endeavour was Michel’s chance meeting with an agent, New Authors Collective (NAC).

“I submitted my manuscript to their review panel and received detailed feedback; I reworked the novel and NAC presented it to a number of publishers.

“When Hawkeye picked it, they wanted another rework.

“With enough people saying there was something there, it was my decision to put in the work and further polish the novel; finishing it gave me a great sense of achievement.

“My wife Annemieke has been an enthusiastic but tough critic and she kept me motivated to keep going.”

Michel and Annemieke have been living in Emerald Beach for eight years, having bought an old cottage in the seaside town twenty years ago.

“It’s a little corner of paradise with the ocean, the bush, the unique hinterland and a very particular vibe to the population which grew from the community’s fight against the proposed sewage outfall in the early 1990s.”

Locally the book will be on sale at The Book Warehouse.

“Julie from Book Warehouse is very receptive and supportive of local writers.

“There’s a bookshelf out the front of the Coffs store dedicated to local authors.”

See: https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/where-there-is-a-will/.

 

 

 

By Andrea FERRARI