Corsham ex-teacher chalks up first novel (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Corsham ex-teacher chalks up first novel

8:00am Friday 8th March 2013 in News

After an extensive career working in boarding schools, former language teacher Paul Holland has put his experience to good use, in his first comic novel.

Mr Holland, 40, from Pickwick Road, Corsham, has released the first of his three-part St Cretien’s College series, about life in a fictional English boarding school.

The story is told through a series of letters, emails and memos, detailing the dysfunctional workings of life in a modern school.

He said: “It was ten years ago that I first got the idea when I was working full-time in a boarding school in Sussex. It came to me after a long day and hopefully reading the novel you get a sense of how claustrophobic it can be in these big schools.”

A keen artist, Mr Holland designed the book himself, and published it as an online ebook, as well as creating a website for the school.

He said: “Writing is my main focus now, but I’m also trying to push on with my art.

“There are a lot of visual gags that I couldn’t put into the book, so I had quite a lot of fun creating the website.”

The first part of the trilogy is available through Amazon.com, with the second volume due by Easter.