Port Medway author places second with first novel

“I was stunned when I got the news that I actually won second place,” said Reeves–Horton.

He entered his novel, “An Unassumed Road” in the H.R. (Bill) Percy Prize for unpublished novel category.

“Basically it’s an offbeat tale of a guy searching for true love,” he noted.

It is his first novel manuscript.

Reeves–Horton remembers the first time he sat down to write.

“I was eight years old on a Saturday morning and I wrote three country and western songs,” he said. “I’ve always been able to put my thoughts down on paper.”

Writing gives Reeves–Horton a chance to tell a story.

“I’m the world’s worse story teller at a party or social gathering,” he said, “but being able to put it down in written form I just feel I’m really able to capture the experience.”

It has been years since he started writing this novel.

“When I was living in Toronto and I was doing a lot of film and television work out there, I had this story in my head and I wrote it as a screen play and it didn’t really work,” he explained.

Soon he gave up trying to make his story into a screenplay and as a novel “it really seemed to come together.”

He found out about a week ago that he won second place in the H.R. (Bill) Percy Prize for unpublished novel category.

“What I’d really like to do is have some people look at it who know a bit more about this than I do,” to guide him in the possible next publication step.

He described writing as a very satisfying thing for him to do.

He also has documentary and video production credits with the National Geographic Channel, Parks Canada, Ontario Arts Council and more.

Reeves–Horton currently works at Lighthouse Publishing as an education coordinator and he produces videos for their website.

He moved to Port Medway about a year ago with his wife, after living in Toronto for 10 years.

He grew up mainly in the Bridgewater-New Germany area.

“I’m really enjoying living in a place like Port Medway and all of Queens County. It’s just really an open and inviting place with a relaxing atmosphere,” he said.