by John Prince
Two local writers who have written their first book about the town they were born and raised in, have sold out their first two runs in a matter of days.
Uncle and nephew Jon Dexter, 69, and Josh Dearing, 39, from Hornsea, started work on the curiously titled The Lunacies of a Lakeland by the Sea just two months ago.
It was released last week, and the first 20 copies flew out of the door in a few hours. Another 100 were ordered to meet demand, and they have already been sold.
Now the pair have ordered 100 more, as the book is proving to be much more popular than was first expected.
The book is an autobiographical collection of short stories about the pair’s experiences growing up and living on the East Yorkshire coast, from two different perspectives.
Jon is now retired, and Josh works in the maritime industry, and the 30-odd stories they have penned are a nostalgic look back at Hornsea over the years.
Both authors, neither of whom are professional writers, have shared childhood and family memories centred on their time spent on the beach and in Hornsea, as both have similar beach-related upbringings.
There is a strong fishing theme throughout, but not all of the stories are fishy tales.
It chronicles some of their boyhood adventures, and is filled with geographical references to local landmarks, firmly rooting the stories in the town’s history.
They have described the book as both warm and “often humorous”.
It is non-fiction as it documents real experiences from Jon and Josh’s lives with little or no poetic licence.
Jon said: “Josh was the catalyst to it happening. We don’t go fishing together a real lot, but when you do and you’re stood on the beach with somebody for hours, you laugh and joke and talk about things. He just said to me that I’ve got so many stories that need recording.
“I can write a story, but I would never be able to do it on social media for instance and turn it into the right channels for a book.
“Nobody’s directly named in the book, but there’s a lot of Hornsea people and friends who might recognise themselves. But there’s nothing that will upset anyone.
“There are loads of references to the seafront, buildings, and streets. The pottery is mentioned in certain ways, and the Mere where lots of people worked over the years including myself.
“Somebody who read the book this week messaged me. They’ve only read like a quarter of it, but said it was really nostalgic. The feedback so far has been really good.”
The Lunacies of a Lakeland by the Sea is currently only available in hardback, priced at £12.99. You can buy or preorder a copy at the Feather Your Nest shop in Newbegin.