Drake Mees

If you had suggested to Drake two years ago that he would have a book published in spring 2015, he would have said it was very unlikely. "I have an optimistic attitude to life," Drake said, "and I believe it's possible to do things that most people won't attempt. However, I would not have put writing and publishing a book near the top of my list of things to do" said the 72 year-old.

All that was set to change as a result of a family holiday in Normandy during August 2013. Following some strange happenings, Drake made a few notes, which he thought might form the basis of a novel. He had made similar jottings in the past, but none of these had developed any further.

On returning home Drake began to develop his ideas for writing a book. "I felt I should continue to write as long as the ideas flowed," said Drake. "If there came a time when I hit a wall and the writing dried up, I would stop. Otherwise I could waste a lot of time and achieve nothing." He continued to write during the autumn of 2013 and into the spring of 2014. It was during this time that the ideas for the title and form of the novel were developed, together with the assumed name for the author.

Drake became interested in the D-Day landings from the snippets of information he heard his father speak about. He had landed on the Normandy beaches in June 1944, serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Drake had a burning desire to visit and walk on the beaches, an ambition he achieved at the end of June 2014.

As a result of his experiences at Arromanches, Port-en-Bessin and Bayeux, Drake was able to edit the early chapters of 'Encounters'. He finished writing in July 2014. His daughter, Jenny, did most of the proof-reading, making a number of suggestions to improve the text. The book was then ready to publish by the end of 2014.

"During the early weeks of 2015 'Encounters' had to be formatted and uploaded," said Drake. "Although this was a daunting task, it was completed with help from Createspace and my friend, Don, who had previously self-published a number of his own books. The final phase was amazingly quick," commented Drake. "I received copies of 'Encounters' just three days after it was uploaded to Createspace. I was on cloud nine for the rest of that week."