A FORMER King Alfred's Academy pupil who was told by his English teacher he would be a famous author has just won his first award.

 

Freelance management consultant Jez Fernandez has been crowned the winner of this year's Oxfordshire Libraries eBook Short Story Competition.

 

His 3,000-word tale, Time of Death, tells the story of two schoolboys who get drawn into an adventure when they see a stranger throwing a rolled-up carpet off a bridge.

 

The father-of-two, who lives with his wife Cathryn and their young daughters Kaila and Elisha in Grove, has wanted to be a writer as long as he can remember.

 

He has been working on his first – but as yet unpublished – novel for five years, but said winning the short story award would be the first step on the road to fame and fortune.

 

The 43-year-old said: "This is a massive deal for me.

 

"Being a writer is my lifelong ambition, ever since I was at school and my English teacher Mr Hughes said 'you'll be a famous author one day'.

 

"English was my best school subject, I did creative writing as a degree and I've been working on a fantasy novel for nine-to-13-year-olds.

 

"At the beginning of this year I said to myself 'this is the year of writing so I am going to enter a load of competitions and then if I win I can say I'm a prize-winning author'."

 

He described Time of Death as a sci-fi story with a 'sting in the tail'.

 

Oxfordshire librarian and judging panellist Graham White said: "We were particularly impressed by Jez’s vivid use of language in his short story, as well as being surprised by the brilliant twist at the end.

 

"Although we had many excellent stories entered this year we felt that Time of Death was the clear winner for the 2017 adults category, and would make a superb addition to Oxfordshire Library Service’s growing eBook collection."

 

The book is now available to borrow online at oxfordshire.gov.uk from the libraries service pages.

 

Mr Fernandez, meanwhile, is now planning to submit short stories to three more competitions before the end of June.

 

He also plans to start leading creative writing classes in Wantage and Grove and hopes to finally finish his first novel.

 

He said: "It's about a group of schoolchildren and what happens to them when a sinister figure comes to their town.

 

"I always say to people 'if you like Harry Potter, you'll like this'."