A husband who lost his wife to breast cancer has shared how his first fantasy novel transpired from coping with his grief.
Jay Bolaky and his wife, Debbie, were married for six years before her death in 2019, aged 57.
The mum-of-two was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2014.
After chemotherapy treatment and a mastectomy, Debbie and her family believed she was in remission. However, in 2016, she began to have seizures, and was told the cancer had spread to her brain.
Jay Bolaky and his beloved wife Debbie featured in the East Anglian Daily Times in 2019, hoping to raise funds for cutting-edge treatment in America.
However, Debbie passed away before this was possible.
“She was so kind,” said Jay. “She put everyone else first. Everyone met her would walk away from her feeling important.”
The couple met while they were both working for Colchester City Council where Debbie was a customer advisor. She showed great compassion to people who were struggling, especially those who were homeless.
“She put a new lens on my life,” said Jay, from Colchester. “She was always positive, even in the darkest of times.
“Every day, she woke up with the hope of finding a new treatment. We were told it was over, that there was nothing we could do, but we kept striving to look.
“That kept her going, it kept her smiling. Even to the last day, she had hope.”
The idea of keeping hope is central to Jay’s novel, Warriors of Winter, which he began to write after Debbie had died as a way to help him cope with her loss.
“The hardest thing with grief is living,” he said. “It’s hard, to get up every day and try to live a new way, in a new routine, without your other half, or whoever it is in your life you have lost.
“I started thinking of a story that would make people feel good.”
Warriors of Winter draws on the many different hats Jay has worn over the course of his life, having served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and worked as an undertaker and for the NHS Professionals, which helps to staff the health service.
The story is set in 21st century London against a backdrop of Christmas folklore, where Detective Inspector is entangled in a case of missing children, a baffling mystery that has stymied him for over a year
When a possible lead ties a potential murder victim to the heart of the Yuletide legend, St. Nicholas, the case spirals into the realm of the unbelievable.
Enter Chris Demer, an ordinary man ensnared in a destiny beyond imagination. He meets Winter, St. Nicholas’s enigmatic, battle-axe-wielding daughter, who is on a mission to resurrect her fallen father.
The unlikely trio are forced to come together, on a mission to save Christmas.
“Christmas lets you ‘reset’ your hope,” said Jay. “Everyone seems to try a bit harder at Christmas.”
The story is dedicated to Debbie’s memory, who, he said, always believed in him.
The couple’s sausage dogs, Rosie and Ottie, also make an appearance in the story.
Warriors of Winter is available for purchase from Tuesday, October 24.
To buy a copy, visit: www.jrbolaky.com
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