from the Advertiser-Democrat (Norway, ME) Feb. 26, 2004

Buckfield Author’s Second Novel Released

Buckfield—David Compton’s second novel, Nexus, starts in the shadowy bowels of a university library and goes places no one has visited before. Jaan-Mikael (Jami) Warrington finds that he is the central character in a struggle on a world that never existed in a time that never was. Somehow, he’s expected to fulfill a prophecy in a book that he can’t read, aided by a young woman gifted (or cursed) with the Sight, someone who might be an evil wizard and a being that’s not quite human.

            Compton calls the new novel a “historical fantasy” in that it begins with actual historical facts and develops from there. “Not as much as in the sequel, Catalyst, perhaps, but the historical basis is there,” he says.

            His first novel, A Filthy Business, was fiction-based-on-fact, and is, according to the author, “somewhat autobiographical.”

            Compton is now retired (when he finds the time) and living in Buckfield. He taught in private schools for 34 years, beginning in Connecticut and finishing his career in Maine, at Hebron Academy. His roots in Maine are deep, however, as he attended Bates College and spent “every possible vacation and holiday” here. He also worked on the Advertiser-Democrat staff for several summers.

            Both A Filthy Business and Nexus may be ordered through the author’s web site: www.david-compton.com. In addition, A Filthy Business is available at Books-N-Things in the Oxford Plaza, and Nexus may also be ordered through the publisher’s web site: www.publishamerica.com.

Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal, March 1, 2004

A different 'twist'

Buckfield writer pens second novel, 'Nexus'
               by Mary A. Standard
               Special to the Sun Journal

   David Compton was very excited last week. He had just received the writer's copies of his latest book, Nexus, from his publisher, PublishAmerica.  Compton, a retired school teacher, started writing novels about fifteen years ago when his wife Janet, also a retired teacher, suggested he start writing something other than "boring" textbooks. Teaching at Suffield Academy in Connecticut at the time, he had been unhappy with his French, English as a Second Language and computer texts and had developed his own.  But what his wife was suggesting was something new.

   His fantasy genre world began with her comment.
   Nexus begins as most of his novels do, as a historical novel. Somewhere along the way, however, Compton has history take a different twist; his "what ifs" become places no one has ever been before and his star character finds himself on a world that never existed in a time that never was.
   "All of us have wondered about the turn of events in the world if something different had happened to change history," Compton said. 

   Nexus will soon be available at Books-N-Things in Oxford Plaza or www.david-compton.com. Its price: $24.95. The book is published by PublishAmerica.

   Compton has a second book in the Nexus series submitted and is working on the third of the trilogy.
   His first published novel, ³A Filthy Business² is fiction based on fact and somewhat autobiographical. He was in Germany in the 60¹s and writes from some of his experiences in the world of army intelligence. 
     Compton and his wife both attended Bates College  and have strong family ties to Maine. When they left Connecticut in 1997, they moved to Buckfield where he taught at Hebron Academy until he retired in 2001. They live in a log cabin where he and Janet enjoy cross country skiing and snow shoeing during the winter months. He also is building a New England train layout in his basement. Being a history buff, he counts among his possessions an original Acadian Railroad sign.
   Another interest of Compton's is to start a "threaded novel," where a small town is chosen and different writers take on a fictional character. The writers take their character through a day's normal or unusual
activities in the village where life takes on unlimited possibilities as different writers project their styles and perceptions.
   Compton was in sixth grade when a teacher  read where he expressed a desire to be a writer. She told him to "give it up and get a real job".  He did, but as his wife Janet said, "Everybody has a story to tell and everybody has an inner voice." That inner voice finally emerged.