Offaly civil servants first novella now available for kindle

A village “not unlike” Ballinagar is the setting for a local man’s first novella, which last week was launched as a 130-page Kindle book.

'When Darkness Arrives’ is a horror fantasy tale set in the fictional village of Ballinger. It’s the work of Tullamore native and Ballinagar resident Alan McIntyre, a 43-year-old who has managed to complete it around his job as a civil servant at the Department of Education in Tullamore.

'When Darkness Arrives’ is the tale of a dark spirit, which begins to attack villagers connected to a local community hall building project.

“It notices a red orb of fear around your head and then attacks you,” Alan says, explaining the scary spirit from his imagination. “It takes your soul and then moves on.”

Alan’s inspiration for the story came late last year, when he noticed a dark shadow in a line of trees at the side of the house he shares with his wife Catriona and daughters Amy (15) and Jenny (11) in Ballinagar.

“I just thought that’d be great for a story,” he explained. That their house is at the centre of a terrifying tale doesn’t bother his family however. Alan says they’ve supported him all the way through writing the story, usually acting as his editors.

Alan began to write three years ago. His latest - and first published - work took just six months to write however.

Alan says he’s decided to self-publish the work as it’s the fastest route to getting to readers. Getting five out of six stars for the story on a website for writers who are starting off also encouraged him to go the extra yard and offer his work for sale.

“It’s for satisfaction more than anything else,” he explained. “I was curious to see how it would go.”

'When Darkness Arrives’ is currently available as a Kindle book for £1.90/$3.09.