Category: Uncategorized
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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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I didn’t write The Lost Hero from a library seat. I wrote it with drill-square dust still in my bones. I joined young, passed P Company, served in the Royal Artillery through the ’90s as a signaller and driver, and learned the simple truth that carries a soldier through: do the simple things right. What…
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The Lost Hero lives or dies on two hearts beating in time: a father whose memories are slipping and a son determined to hold the line. Here’s how I built them. William Clarke — “The Cost” Logline: A once-unyielding paratrooper facing dementia, William fights his last campaign against forgetting—where courage looks like letting his son…
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— This morning, Sunday 9 November 2025, I laid a wreath on behalf of the Veterans Volunteer Service. The square was still, the air bright and cold, and the silence settled like a hand on the shoulder. I felt the weight of it—duty, love, the names we carry. I thought about my sister, and the…
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How I Structured The Lost Hero (and Kept It Honest) People think books arrive fully formed. Mine began as pencil scribbles, coffee rings, and a tangle of memories. The trick wasn’t finding the story, it was organising it so the heart hit first. The Two-Thread Spine I built The Lost Hero on a simple, sturdy frame: Present…
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How I Came Up With The Lost Hero There wasn’t one single “eureka” moment for this book, more a chain of small sparks that finally caught. One spark came from my own service. I joined the British Army young, passed P Company, and served in the Royal Artillery through the 1990s. Soldiering leaves you with a…
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