DentaltownUK April 2017 - 71

Worklife
turmoil that I awoke one morning with an
image burned in my thoughts. Picture yourself
sat on a yacht at sea, and on the distant horizon
you can see an aircraft carrier. From that one
moment, the seeds of a book were formed.
Now many of you are thinking, "how can that
lead to writing a book". Well there is a thought
process that follows. What is the aircraft carrier
doing there? Who are the people on the boat?
Why is this happening?
Now I know that many writers will disagree
with me, but from my perspective, this is how
books are formed. And no matter what the
different variations, hundreds of thousands of
people have had a similar moment in their
lives. A door opened a fraction of an inch,
enticing them to kick that door in, screaming
"I'M HERE". The problem is, the majority of
people don't take that action. They let the door
close, because they are too busy, too full of
doubts, too wrapped up in the trials and
tribulations of life. The world's greatest novels
have probably never been written.
The thing is, when you get that chance,
when the path of your life threatens to veer off
on a different course, and you take the leap of
faith, things start to happen. Unseen forces
come to your aid, I truly believe that. And I'm
not just talking about writing fiction. As
Napoleon Hill said repeatedly, the seeds of
your ultimate success come wrapped up in
impossible situations. We as human beings
need to be able to see these challenges for what
they are, opportunities for growth, for learning.
If it doesn't kill you, it can make you become

a better person, if you let it.
I write under a pseudonym called "Sean
Deville". The reason being was originally due
to fear. Fear of the GDC (would they feel I
was bringing the profession into disrepute?).
Fear of what others will think. Fear of what
my patients will think. Fear of my thoughts
and literal fantasies being rejected. Although
criticism is an essential part of the learning
process, it is not something that I accept easily.
So at the beginning I hid behind the façade as
most writers initially do. You see, what I write
isn't to everybody's taste. I write rather explicit
horror fiction, the present manifestation being
a zombie trilogy that sees the world ripped
asunder.
The beauty of writing is we now live in a
world where anyone can publish a book. I was
fortunate enough to find a publisher, but more
and more authors are having huge success
through self-publishing, using social media
and the power of the written word to get their
message out. Conversely that also means that
the world of literature is now awash with novels
that are rarely read, especially on kindle format.
Everyone now has the power to put their
thoughts on paper.
But to write a book you have to do it and
not just think about it. You have to commit to
getting those words out, and then you have to
refine what you have written. For me I couldn't
not do it, the story had to be told and I hope
those who read it will enjoy my somewhat
warped version of reality I have concocted.
You don't even have to be a brilliant speller or

have a degree in English literature. Because
once your Magnum Opus is complete, you
can go on www.freelancer.com and pay someone
to cross all the I's and dot all the t's.
I'll tell you what I believe though. If it feels
like a chore, if sitting in front of that PC or
laptop doesn't cause your heart to sing, writing
might not be for you. You reach a moment
where your whole being is consumed by what
you are doing, where the thoughts fly off onto
the computer screen with an ease and a fluidity
that sometimes scares you.
Because our lives are stories. Some people
are there to guide the way, to be the inspiration.
Others are there to be warnings, examples of
the frailty and the failure of humanity. And
every one of us, whilst we are alive, get to
choose which of those we will be. Despite the
cruise missiles that regularly rocks our lives,
we get to be the authors of our own destiny.
Writing became, what I call, my 'plan B', or
if you prefer my 'plan Z'! As the regulatory
and litigious burden became a weight rather
than an irritation, I began to feel that dentistry
was perhaps becoming a young person's game.
Now that I've had to take time off due to illness,
I have turned to my 'Plan Z' to fill my time
and maintain my bank account. And as the
days pass by, I more and more feel that writing
is my true calling. I was and am good at being
a dentist, but it is not my identity. I was not
a dentist; I was just someone who did dentistry.
Your own Plan B can be anything you know.
And it is your insurance against the unthinkable
happening. You don't get in the car with the
intention of being in a car accident, but you
have insurance all the same. Things happen,
and you need to have a foot in the door to lead
you down a different road should your
circumstances change. Start now because you
want to, not when you are forced to. I was
perhaps fortunate to not have to fight through
the initial poverty that many authors face. But
conversely, perhaps that's what took me so long
to pull my finger out!
The American poet Charles Bukowski once
said "You should find what you love to do....
and let it kill you."
The first two parts of the Sean Deville post
apocalyptic trilogy, "Cobra Z" and "The
Contained" are now available from Severed
Press. They can be purchased in both Kindle
format and paperback from Amazon.co.uk
Dr Stephen Hudson BDS, MSc, PGD Med
law...aka Sean Deville. n
dentaltownuk.com \\ APRIL 2017

71
http://www.freelancer.com https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contained-2-Necropolis-Trilogy/dp/1925597334/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491498530&sr=8-1&keywords=sean+deville http://Amazon.co.uk http://www.dentaltownuk.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK April 2017
