A Southport man, from near Hesketh Park, is a successful international author.

EXCLUSIVE Friends of Southport interview by Claire Kelly.

Alan C Williams, describes himself as an “Aussie male romance writer’”and has written countless fictional novels and is about to release his next one ,”The Raindrop Girl” which is a Romance/ mystery novel with a touch of the supernatural - due to be published on the 20th of January.

Alan has also just had a short New Year story published in ‘That's Life Australia’ with a readership of 500,000.

Alan was born in Australia and then lived in France, with his English wife, recently moving to our town of Southport.

“At present we’re renting here but are desperate to buy and settle down in Southport. We both LOVE it here.” Says Alan.

Readers might have seen Alan’s short stories in ‘Take a Break’ or ‘My Weekly’. Alan has impressively sold over 60 short stories to national magazines in both countries. Eleven novels have been published as ‘My Weekly Pocket Novels’ and eight reprinted by Linford Romance (as large print books) available in libraries worldwide, including some in Sefton libraries. Southport Library have a number of Alan’s novels in large print.

“Surprisingly for an Aussie bloke, I’m in the Romantic Novelist Association in Britain. Yeah me … a romance writer. The impossible can come true after all!” Laughs Alan.

“To be fair my novels are a mixture of drama, thrills, crimes as well as the smootchy stuff. My main characters are strong females.”

“I write as Alan C. Williams or sometimes A.C. Williams, my real name. I write fiction, predominantly for the womag market (women’s magazines) but about four years ago, I moved into novel writing where I can talk with my characters much more. “

We asked Alan how he first got into writing:

“I’ve always enjoyed making things up and letting my imagination soar. When I attended a U3A writing group in Tassie, I found a talent for it but it wasn’t until I reached sixty that I sold my first story. The editor described my writing as quirky!”

“After a number of years writing short stories, my wife suggested trying a novel. That allowed much more characterisation and intricate plotting. I decided to try it!”

“Suddenly, I could see my first novel appear in my little brain. I started to write – no notes, no chapter breakdowns, just write. The result was a novel entitled, “ lost in the outback”, a romance/ adventure novel. I finished it in 11 weeks and sold it virtually immediately.

“Christmas Down Under, based on my courtship with Anne, was much more romantic. It was my second. As I said earlier, I love to talk with my imaginary charactetrs as they come to life on the pages. Although some of my books are based on my life experiences, others are totally from my imagination. I love to weave reality and fiction together.

I love writing. “Honestly. I’ve been successful because I’ve met editors who find my writing different, interesting and with great characters. Suppose I learnt my skills for interesting plots from comics!”

If anyone wants to buy ‘The Raindrop Girl’ , it’ll be in Southport supermarkets and newsagents along with magazines like Women’s Weekly and Take a Break. It’ll be on sale for 2 weeks from the 20th January 2022.

Alan’s large print books are at the libraries. This link takes you to Alan’s author page in the Sefton catalogue:

https://catalogue2.sefton.gov.uk/cgi...t_by=relevance

Finally for those interested in Alan’s short stories, there is a collection of his Australian themed short stories called ‘The Rain, The Park and Other Things’.
Alan also painted the cover.

It’s on Amazon HERE

Alan’s webpage: https://acwilliams-author.com

Reported by Claire Kelly of 'Friends of Southport'