Local COVID Essential Worker’s dream to become a writer comes true

As the novel Coronavirus came to light at the end of 2019 (what we all came to know and love as COVID-19), overlooked Essential Workers in Supply Chain were bracing themselves for the worst. As the pandemic spread throughout the world and the country locked-down, it seemed that as soon as supermarket shelves were stocked, they were emptying just as quickly – especially loo roll for some strange reason!

We talk to local man John Kirk who tells us how he was one of the bewildered essential workers who, after a long day keeping things running, would wander round an empty supermarket in the evening picking through the leftovers, all the while wondering how they could have emptied so quickly. There were plenty of supply chain professionals like him who actually LOST weight during the pandemic!

Throughout 2020/22 John had to launch and complete 2 major organisational improvement projects, on top of lockdown complicating everyday activities by a factor of 10. This really took it out of him at the time. “I was working all hours,” says John, “and my wife isolated with her mum during lockdown. We were afraid that I might give them both the virus as I was still out there mixing with other people. So when I did get home, the place would be empty – except for the cat.”

But by some bizarre stroke of luck, the restrictions in travel and leisure activities mandated by the government enabled John to scrimp and save a few pennies – just enough to take a little time off in order to chase his dream of becoming a fully-fledged Science Fiction [Sci-Fi] writer.

“During the drives to and from work,” John recalls, “I began to sketch out the plan for a story of spies set in space. A sort of cross between The Expanse and Harry Palmer, from The Ipcress File.”

And the end result has been John’s passion-project, his labour-of-love, the DEVIN’s WAY trilogy. “The whole thing is set 100yrs from now,” explains the author, “spanning some 10yrs in total. In Part01:Eternal Spies, we meet a man who reluctantly gets drawn into a web of espionage in low-earth-orbit and is indoctrinated into a spy organisation; for his next assignment, Part02:Jupiter’s moon follows him as he is dragged kicking and screaming to the moon Europa; before finishing on the barren wastelands of Mars in Part03:Martian Rising”.

As a local Northamptoner, John wrote these books with the help of reference resources and the quiet spaces Northamptonshire Libraries have to offer, and his work is available for loan in the library catalogue. Thanks to his regular visits whilst writing, they are also available via a number of Northampton-based retailers and coffee shops, most notably the excellent Heyford Books on Kettering Road and the quirky eatery The Eccentric Englishman on St Giles’ Street.

“I truly love Northampton,” John grins, “there’s always so much going on here, so many great places to see and visit. Central Library in town is amazing and upstairs there really is an academic feel to the place. Perfect for tapping away at a keyboard while referencing some weighty tome on space travel!”

Available on AMAZON KINDLE and paperback, the feedback to the DEVIN’s WAY trilogy has been overwhelmingly positive with readers hailing the books as ‘Well worth reading’, with another saying they were ‘Gripped to the end’.

“The plan is to write a number of short stories within this universe,” the author explains, “tales that will further stitch the 3 main books together. Then I intend to have the entire work published in Hardback as a special edition compendium – coming soon!”

Check out John’s website for news, updates, offers, and if you just want to say hello:

https://gollancz.wixsite.com/authorjpkirk

“Thanks for looking, folks. I appreciate any constructive comments – best wishes to you all!”