A novelist from Norwich has found success after his thriller was announced as the runner-up in a global book award.
Ian Nettleton, who lives on Capps Road, was told The Last Migration had been chosen as the runner-up in the Bath Book Award, which judges more than 600 self-published novels from 33 countries worldwide.
The novel is set in the Australian outback and tells the story of two brothers setting off across a desert to capture a man with a case of money.
The 49-year-old author begun work on The Last Migration seven years ago, after an anecdote from a friend inspired his first venture into the genre.
Mr Nettleton, who teaches creative writing at Cinema City, the Open University and Wensum Lodge, said: 'I wanted to write a novel and thriller but I didn't know how to start it. Then my friend told the story of when they hit a deer and started to clean it up off the vehicle. He couldn't get rid of it all. I was just curious what it would be like if you didn't know you'd hit a human, maybe.'
The story soon started to come together - although balancing teaching, writing and taking care of his two daughters meant Mr Nettleton often visited nearby cafes to pen the novel.
One day, after returning from a stint of writing, Mr Nettleton received the news that he'd been long-listed.
'I got back from a cafe an email after writing it - I came back and there it was. I had been long-listed in the top 33 from the 649 entries.
'It was a really great feeling,' he added.
But the achievement was topped when The Last Migration was short-listed to the last five - and then announced as the runner-up.
'Writing can be very isolating at times, so it was great to have this recognition. I'm quite hard on myself as a writer so to know the book was picked up has been great,' Mr Nettleton said.
Now, the father-of-two is looking to the future - and hoping the recognition will attract the attention of publishing houses.
For more information on the novel, visit www.bathnovelaward.co.uk
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