Realising a writing dream
IN November 2013, Martin Chimes completed his dream of self-publishing his debut novel Into The Lion’s Den, but his joy was shortlived.
“I remember on the Wednesday I published the book on Kindle and had plans to promote it, but first I had to go for an X-ray and tests,” recalls Chimes, a 62-year-old Sydney businessman.
“The next day I learnt that the fluid on my lung was a malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Nothing prepares you for that moment.”
The book immediately took a back seat as Chimes started the toughest fight of his life – according to doctors 95 out of 100 people die from the disease.
Chimes was born in South Africa and immigrated to Australia in 1981, where he was responsible for many successful business start-ups.
He won the 2006 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Chimes was a keen triathlete and had always maintained his fitness.
“I was invincible, in my own mind at least, but suddenly I was diagnosed with a terminal illness with just 4-10 months to live,” he says.
“I couldn’t accept that.”
Chimes immediately underwent a radical tri-modal treatment of chemotherapy which included intensive surgery and radiotherapy.
Doctors removed his left lung, pleura, diaphragm, thoracic tissues and the membranous structures surrounding his heart, and he underwent experimental treatment that was being pioneered by an Israeli doctor.
“When I was sick and having the treatments, the book was a way to keep myself active.” he says.
“It was a great distraction, a labour of passion.”
By May this year, 18 months after being diagnosed, Chimes seemed disease-free, but in early June he was struck down again and discovered that he had a recurrence of the disease, now in his abdomen and affecting all of his organs.
This time, Chimes knew that nothing could save him and that he would only have months to live. Despite the grim news, Chimes has kept a positive outlook, saying that he appreciates life more and feels closer to God.
“I had innumerable days and longer nights of feeling sick,” he says.
“It is all a most profound experience and as bizarre as it may seem, even if I could go back to the day of diagnosis, I would not choose a different path.”
He is excited that his book, Into the Lion’s Den, an action thriller set in South Africa about three families – Jewish, Afrikaner and black African – caught up in a saga of violence and retribution, has now been published by Harlequin and has been released this week.
He will be a guest at the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival later this month.
“In a way, this book will be my legacy because although it’s a novel, it’s semi-autobiographical,” says Chimes.
Into the Lion’s Den is published by Harlequin, $29.99 (rrp). Martin Chimes will be a guest of the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival on August 30. Bookings: www.sjwf.org.au.
Joshua Levi
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