Paul finds the write formula for success
ASCIENCE teacher has published his first novel, telling a story of adventures abroad and self-discovery based on his own life, and has already topped Amazon’s Kindle bestsellers list.
Paul Gorwood, who teaches at Hopwood Hall College, penned his first book, ‘Lost for 72,000 Miles’, based on his personal experiences spending a year in the US following the ‘devastating’ breakdown of a long-term relationship.
Paul, 54, said the book, which he wrote under the pen name P. G. Wood, took five years to complete alongside the demands of his teaching work, but he had been ‘overwhelmed’ by the reaction to the book.
He said: “When you’re a teacher it’s difficult to get a lot of time, so I had to do it on weekends and on holidays.
“It all came about based on emails that I wrote to my friends during the year I was in North Carolina, telling them what I was up to and how I was doing.
“When I got back I printed them and kept them in a file - one of my friends had a look at them and said I should make them into a journal, and it all went from there.”
Paul, who grew up in Rochdale and now lives on Queensway, said he decided to embark on a one year international teaching programme in the US from 2003 to 2004 for a ‘progressive change of scenery and lifestyle’ following his breakup, but found that life in the
States was not entirely as he expected.
He said: “I thought it would be very similar to life in the UK but things were very different - the people and the culture were things I really had to adapt to.
“I went out there on my own and looking back, that was a big thing to do, so it’s really about personal growth.”
Paul says his writing was inspired by travel writers Bill Bryson and Paulo Coelho, and said he had enjoyed the ‘selfexpression’ that came from writing about his own experiences.
He added: “The main themes are turning a negative situation and how you feel about it into a positive.
“I wouldn’t have gone to America without the breakup, which most people would see as a really negative thing to happen.
“But in the end it meant that I met all these great people and visited so many different places.
“I hope that it’s a story and a situation a lot of people can relate to.”
With positive reviews and a bestselling run on Amazon, Paul said the reaction to his first book had been ‘unbelievable’, and is now working on his second book - a fictional story of a character living with a split personality.
Asked what he thought his students’ reaction would be to his new status as a published author, Paul said: “I think they would be really excited! The ones I have told so far have been really happy about it and really supportive.”
‘Lost for 72,000 Miles’ is available for Kindle on Amazon.