Brighton cardiologist pens an adventure story for children

Emeritus Professor Richard Vincent uses his scientific background to write an adventure story for children – The Marble Curse.
Richard VincentRichard Vincent
Richard Vincent

Richard, who lives in Ringmer, tells the tale of a mysterious parcel, a plea for help and a vicious threat.

Joe Raven is an inventor of small gadgets with extraordinary power. He and his sister, Beth, discover a mysterious parcel in their garden. Inside is a silver bird, a blank guidebook and a note from an unknown Granelda seeking their help to overcome a vicious curse.

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Joe and Beth set out on their mission to follow Granelda’s clues. Their journey catapults them back to 1789 where they become embroiled with the spreading curse and its unexpected creator.

In a race against time, the two siblings must find an antidote, save the citadel and return home safely…

Richard is an emeritus professor at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and worked as a consultant cardiologist in Brighton hospitals for many years.

As well as having more than 120 papers published, he has also produced 60 educational videos and has presented children’s talks. He was a British Heart Foundation lecturer, speaking across the UK.

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For several years he has been teaching science at home to his nine middle-grade grandchildren.

Richard said: “While living at our home, my grandchildren and I slid easily into playing with ideas that could be the start of a whimsical story. Surprisingly, in spite of my publications until then being entirely academic, the idea of writing a children’s novel for their age-group soon became compelling. But not just as a story; my worlds of medicine, research and teaching elbowed their way in, about which I seemed to have no option. Fact and fiction needed to be intertwined. As I stumbled my way through learning the art of writing for children, the shape of final goal became clear: a playful narrative with puzzles, jeopardy and humour painted on a canvas with a warp of empirical science and a weft of mystery. The two strands would show through especially at their crossing points, and both were necessary for the story to do its job.”

View the book trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=716b73w-koYISBN: 9781913551674; price: £8.99. The book has been published by The Book Guild.

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