Author preparing to publish 42nd book

A local author is putting the finishing touches to his 42nd book as he prepares for an event where copies of all 41 of his previous works will be on sale.

The Rev Patrick Coghlan, a minister at Worstead Baptist Church and counselling manager at the ACT Centre in Aylsham, has been writing for nearly 25 years.

BUSY AUTHOR: Patrick Coghlan with his books.

And on the verge of his 70th birthday, he is getting his latest book, an Advent resource, ready to send to his publisher for potential release at Advent next year.

“I have almost completed the manuscript now,” he said.

His 41 other books will be available to buy at a Christmas coffee morning that the Baptist church will be holding in the old school at Meeting Hill on Saturday, November 30.

Ahead of the event, he spoke about several of his books. His favourite is A Glass of Homemade Lemonade.

He said: “There is a very special reason for choosing this unusual title… which is revealed in the book. It is all about spirituality. The subheading says, ‘for the over fifties’ but you don’t need to be over 50 to enjoy reading it.”

His most personal book is Where is God in Depression? He said he had struggled with mental health issues for a number of years, which he talks about openly in the book.

“I felt very vulnerable talking about the onset of depression and anxiety, how it affected me, and how to manage it,” he said.
His latest books are Rooted in God and Crazy About Horses. He said: “The first is based on a selection of the Psalms, and is dedicated to my late father – Rees Coghlan MBE – who passed away a couple of years ago. The second is a novel, based on my lifelong passion of horse riding.”

Visitors will be able to chat to him about his books during the coffee morning, which will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Refreshments will be served from 10am. Also appearing will be local artist Robert Gay, and Christian singer Marilyn Baker and Tracy Williamson, her co-worker in MBM Ministries.