Hartlepool transgender writer releases inspiring debut novel

Andrew Towers, 31, has released his novel ‘Top Of The House’ which tells the story of a transvestite from Deerpool who plans a heist to steal a golden monkey worth half a million pounds, but experiences complications on the way.

Andrew, from Captains Walk, Hartlepool, spent three years on the book, writing alongside his job as a bingo caller at Hartlepool’s Mecca Bingo.

He said: “I started the book in 2013, and wanted to write a story about people who are down on their luck but manage to triumph in the end.

“The idea came partly from my imagination and partly from things that have happened to me as a transgender person.

“One of the characters in the book is a cross dresser, which raises the subject, in the hope that the book will help other people who are going through a similar thing.

“The story is a comic novel which tells the tale of a former school teacher and his friend who hatch a plot to rob a bingo hall to win a jackpot, but are pursued by a terrifying villain.”

Andrew, who grew up in Hartlepool studied English literature at University College London before graduating with an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in 2007.

Although this is his first book, Andrew, a female-to-male transsexual, won the Guardian Short Story Award in 2010 with his short story ‘Jellyfish’, published under the name of ‘Anna Towers’.

Andrew, who now works as a Mecca Bingo cashier, added: “I am hoping the book will appeal to a wide readership.”

The book is £8.99 and is available on Amazon and in all major bookshops.