How I got started with writing

I never set out to be a writer. For many years I worked in the electronics manufacturing industry, eventually rising to boardroom level. I loved the job, but hated the back-biting politics.

Eventually there came a possible opportunity for the management team – of which I was one member – to buy the company I worked for from its huge American multinational parent corporation. We went for it – convinced that we could be far more successful as an independent company. I could never have imagined what a tortuous experience it would be, or the lengths that some individuals would go to in order to try to scupper the bid. It was, as they say, ‘stranger than fiction’. I won’t tell you what the eventual outcome was, but suffice it to say that the experience inspired me to write my debut novel, ‘Buyout’.

‘Buyout’ is probably best described as a ‘corporate thriller’, and describes the trials and tribulations of a group of 5 guys fighting corporate politics and personal vendettas in an effort to buy the company they work for. It also charts the stresses and strains on personal relationships and marriages as the buyout bid gradually turns into a nightmare. It is a work of fiction, but from my own experience, I would say that it could be happening for real somewhere, right now.

Whilst writing ‘Buyout’, I discovered that writing is something I love, so the sequel, ‘Payback’ will follow shortly (early 2014). It follows the fortunes of the main protagonists in ‘Buyout’.

Website http://www.mainsailbooks.co.uk

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/RayMainsail