That night, and every night since, Curtis Cardinali gave a small prayer of hope and thanks. ‘Stay with me Jac, please, for you make me one lucky man.’
THE END
Acknowledgements
In writing another nautically inspired tale, I must thank quite a few folk. Some will have been aware of being ‘interviewed’, others, perhaps not. Always for me, writing a fictional piece becomes something of a journey, and often a journey which develops a mind and a direction of its own. ‘Letter...’ was no different.
For this, my third novel, I am especially indebted to the members of East Antrim Writers Group for their ongoing critique and support; to Ian Hooper and Averill Buchanan for their deep editing and to my daughter for retrieving what I believed was the ‘electronic’ loss of the entire manuscript!
Thanks are also due to John Patrick, Stewart Rainey and Keith Louden for their nautical input. To David Gillespie, general manager at LedCom business development agency in Larne as well as Stephen Kane of Ridgeway Plant Co. Belfast. To Billy McWilliams for the creative excellence of his photographic skills, as can be seen on the front cover. To Luke Buxton for taking Billy’s work and making a fantastic design. To the novel’s reviewers; Betty Armstrong, Tony Kennedy and Dave Selby (known affectionately throughout the yachting world as ‘the impractical boat owner’).
I appreciate everyone’s support and if I’ve missed anyone out, I apologise. But in rounding off this list, there would of course be no creative work if I didn’t have the all-round support of my wonderfully talented artist wife, Jane...
Thank you, one and all...
Tom
Also by Thomas Jobling
The Big Event
Champions & High Achievers
Chasing Shadows
Arthur’s Dead
As well as his novels, Chasing Shadows and Arthur’s Dead, Thomas Jobling has contributed to a book of thirteen short stories produced by Larne Writers Group (now renamed East Antrim Writers Group), entitled, 13, The print run sold out, and the proceeds were forwarded to Marie Curie. Tom’s contribution was ‘First Timer’.
A more recent project, Shaped by the Sea is an anthology of creative writing past and present, driven by another Larne author, Angeline King.
Tom’s contributions were the short story, Leap of Faith and a [very] short poem which found its way onto the front cover. Hosted by Mid & East Antrim Council as part of their St.Art programme, the Shaped by the Sea project was funded by the European Union’s Peace IV initiative. The finished work is bound in a beautifully produced book of short stories, historical pieces, poems, rhymes and songs together with reproduced paintings by local artists.
About The Author
Based in the Northern Irish, County Antrim port town of Larne, Thomas Jobling is a retired businessman, an experienced yachtsman and nautical scribe turned novelist.
His debut novel, Chasing Shadows was published in 2014, and achieved success with readers from within the nautical world of competitive sailing. His second novel, again with a strong maritime backdrop, Arthur’s Dead, was a thrilling but tragic love story and received very positive reviews, from as far away as Australia via their leading yachting magazine Afloat.
Prior to these works, Thomas had written a ‘how-to’ planning and management e-manual designed to assist with the organisation of sailing regattas and championship level events. Such was the popularly of The Big Event that it earned the badge of a ‘best practice’ document with both the Royal Yachting Association and the Irish Sailing Association.
A subsequent publication, Champions & High Achievers, charts the ‘great and the good’ from the inception in 1950 of the East Antrim Boat Club, on Larne Lough, up to 2013. It can be found on the club’s website at www.eabc.club.
Having been born by the sea, boats and boating were destined to become companions of Thomas’s and he continues to enjoy his passion for all things afloat. Going freelance in the early seventies, he covered the marine scene by reporting sailboat events for the leading UK and Irish yachting magazines as well as writing weekly columns for his local papers. However, marriage and an expanding family demanded that he found ‘real’ employment! To back-up his scribing he found himself building glass-fibre yachts, leading on to involvement with the plastics distribution business before moving into the construction industry selling plastic building products. Several decades later he had risen to the level of national sales manager...
He has competed at the highest level within the sport of sailboat racing. Currently he races a quarter-tonner type of yacht, but at a more leisurely pace. During this period he also found time to serve as his club’s Commodore, and thereafter as President of the Irish GP14 Association while he and wife Jane raised their family of three; two boys and a girl.
Having taken early retirement from business he quickly rekindled and re-developed his writing craft within the world of creative writing. There are therefore, many more tales lurking within the head of author, Thomas Jobling...
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Enjoy.
Copyright
Copyright © Thomas Jobling, 2020
Copyright cover photography © Billy McWilliams
Published: 2020 by
The Book Reality Experience
Western Australia
ISBN: 978-0-6489496-1-9 - Paperback Edition
ISBN: 978-0-6489496-2-6 - E-Book Edition
All rights reserved.
The right of Thomas Jobling to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
Typeset in 11.5pt Garamond
Cover Design by Luke Buxton | www.lukebuxton.com from an original image by Billy McWilliams
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A Letter to a Lucky Man Page 25