Thomas Andrews says the main character in his first novel, Type: Writer is an ordinary guy early in his career. If so, the book is not autobiographical.
Andrews, 22, a 2009 graduate of Fulton secondary school, earned his first degree in Ottawa, returning to Vernon to work summers on a golf course. He’s now working on his masters degree in modern and contemporary literature and culture at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
“The program I wanted was there and I applied without a hope in hell to get in. I was lucky to get in,” he said. “Then last summer, I was injured and couldn’t work for a couple of months. I had an idea for a particular character and started writing until I had a book.”
Andrews had written short stories, and credits high school with encouraging his writing.
“My schooling at Fulton was such a great time, it was a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy learning and I had fantastic teachers,” he said.
“Type: Writer is about a year in the life of a character who feels he’s on track in his early career, approaching 30 and how life changes. He’s not remarkable. He’s everyman. He’s a regular guy dealing with the things that are thrown at you — work relationships, friends. So far, the response has been really good.”
Things happened quickly once the book was finished. Type: Writer was published by Createspace in Toronto and is available on Amazon.ca.
Andrews is working on a book of short stories with a group, to be published later this year.
“There’s definitely more novels in the future. I don’t want to stop. I’ll always have this along with my academic career.”
Andrews will be doing his PhD next year and for now he’s busy studying, writing, and, he admits, playing golf too much on the world-famous courses at St. Andrews.
