Hampton Bays Author Hopes E-Review Site Propels Literary Career

David Billingham, of Hampton Bays, has released his first teen novel manuscript which he hopes will be picked up by a publishing house. 

To help his chances, Billingham, a father of three, says he has posted the first nine chapters of his book, called "The Life Inside Maggie Pincus," on authonomy.com, a website that allows aspiring authors to show off their work and obtain reviews.

Since Billingham posted on the site three weeks ago, his book has risen to be ranked 382 of the some 11,000 books that are posted on the site and for the week, his novel sits at #7.

The book, said Billingham, is a tale of a 12-year-old named Maggie Pincus "who is trapped in a world that only rejects her, but little does she know that a new world is already waiting in the shape of an unseen society that offers her family, friendship, happiness; everything she could have ever dreamed of."

British-born Billingham says the book is based on characters that live within the body.

"The book explores the idea of how we make choices, right or wrong," said Billingham.

Billingham, who also is the director of  the Fresh Air Home Camp in Southampton, says he wrote the book piecemeal in his spare time over the past seven years.

"It's been a well-kept secret," said Billingham, who said he wife, , urged him to put his book out there. 

And aside from his wife, Billingham said his oldest son, who is 10 years old, is a huge fan and has also urged him to share his works.

"He reads everything I write and is my biggest source of material," said Billingham.

Billingham said his son also helps "Americanize" his prose.

"He reminds me to write, mom, instead of mum," said Billingham, who moved to America in 1994 and took over the Fresh Air Home in 2000 with his wife, who is a yoga instructor.

Billingham says he has high hopes for his first book and has already started working on a second, which he said is more of a children's book in the form of a diary.