I'm a big Prince fan and just wanted to let people know on the board that my new book is out soon.

Please forgive the plug but I have had the pleasure of ‘ghost writing’ the autobiography of British Paralympian Tennis player and St Helens man Mark Eccleston.

In 1986, at the age of 16, Mark was involved in an accident in which he broke his neck at C6/7 level. He had just finished his exams, got an engineering apprenticeship, and was looking forward to what hopefully would be a successful rugby league career.

He began playing wheelchair rugby then wheelchair tennis and his career has been very successful. He is the first British player ever to be number one on both the International Tennis Federation singles ranking and doubles ranking. He is a two time world champion and has won tournaments all over the world.

He is now a qualified tennis coach and in demand after dinner speaker.

His story is one of overcoming adversity as well as sporting triumph and outspoken humour.

Mark Eccleston is not simply a world class tennis and rugby champion. He is
also a champion person. If you have never heard of him, its because
wheelchair athletes rarely receive the recognition they deserve for their
achievements.

It’s available now at

http://www.play.com/Books...chsource=0

Excellent. I'll look out for it.

Being a "ghost writer" for him meant that you had to write the story of his life in first person, as if though you had experienced and thought and felt these things yourself, right? That must feel quite bizarre... And I can barely imagine how difficult it must be to produce something that he can identify with to the extent that he wants to put his name on it. Surely the process of adapting to his wishes and allowing yourself to be absorbed by his view on life must have been a painstaking one?

Either way, congratulations.

retina said:

This is my 4th book and my 3rd ghosted autobiography. They are tough to write, mainly because I work full time and writing is a sideline. You have to get the other person to really open up to you and tell you their innermost thoughts. So, first of all you need to build a rapport on them. Then you have to be prepared to devote a lot of time to the project knowing that the finished article may never see the light of day.

Having said that, it is worth it all as Mark really deserves to have his story told and deserves all the kudos and publicity that hopefully will come his way.

Thanks for your kind comments.

good for you! that is quite an accomplishment

XxAxX said:

Thankyou, that's very kind of you to say so.

I've been lucky that my previous books have been well received in the main, I'm probably proudest of this one as it was hard work, we got rejected by over 100 agents/publishers before finding success. Due to work/family committments this might even be my last book.

HollywoodSt said:

Yeah, I can imagine that it requires ten times as much prep work as a fiction novel does. I can also see that it must be very rewarding, especially considering the subject matter in this case.