ryanmayodaily
Daily blog
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For today’s blog, I want to introduce you properly to the two men at the centre of The Lost Hero – William Clarke and his son Michael. They’re fictional, but they carry pieces of a lot of real people: veterans I’ve known, families I’ve met, and bits of my own experiences along the way. If…
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The alarm went off at 05:30 this morning and, I’ll be honest, my brain filed an official complaint. I am not a morning person. At all. If there was a medal for “Most Confused Human Before 07:00”, I’d be on the honours list. 😅 So today’s survival plan is simple: Step 1: Coffee Step 2:…
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There’s a big difference between wanting to write a book and needing to write one. The Lost Hero sits firmly in the second camp. I didn’t wake up one morning and decide, out of nowhere, “I’m going to be an author.” The story grew out of years of lived experience – service, friendships, loss, and…
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Chapter Eight – The rude awakening… It wakes you like a punch to the gut. One moment you are asleep and the world is the steady drum of rain on tin; the next, the sky explodes and the compound becomes a thing of splinters and noise. Mortar rounds. The air tasted of wet…
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I’ve been living the self-publishing life with The Lost Hero. It’s equal parts graft and grin: formatting pages at midnight… then feeling a jolt of pride when it finally looks and reads like a real book. Here’s my honest take for anyone weighing it up. Why Self-Publishing Can Be Brilliant Creative control. You call it—cover,…
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Over the last few months, The Lost Hero has taken on a life of its own. From chats with veterans over breakfast to messages from readers who’ve connected with Michael and William’s story, I’m incredibly grateful for the support so far. But this is just the beginning. I’m now working on a couple of new…
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Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about time. I had 6 weeks off work recently and used that space to sit down (with a bit of help from fellow Veterans) and finally write The Lost Hero. Six weeks turned a long-held idea into a real book. Now I’m back at work, juggling shifts, family life,…
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I wrote The Lost Hero so veterans would nod—and civilians wouldn’t need a translator. That meant two promises: keep the soldiering real and tune the language so anyone can follow the heart of the scene. What I Kept Gritty (the soldier bit) Kit behaves like kit. Webbing snags, bergens drag, boots bite, SLRs feel like…
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Yesterday I visited Care for Veterans in Worthing with my brother Kerry Mayo, who serves as an ambassador for the charity. Watching him in that role made me proud—his commitment honours our family’s service, from my own years in uniform to my son who’s serving today. We spent time with Ron, a World War II…
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