22 Facts About David Gemmell

David Andrew Gemmell was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, Legend.

David Gemmell was expelled from school at the age of 16, for organizing a gambling syndicate, and as a youth was arrested several times.

David Gemmell claimed that one psychologist's report at the time labelled him a psychopath.

David Gemmell went on to work as a labourer, a lorry-driver's mate, and a nightclub bouncer before his mother set up a job interview with a local newspaper.

David Gemmell went on to work as a journalist for several local newspapers in East Sussex, for five of which he eventually became editor-in-chief.

David Gemmell worked freelance as a stringer for the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, and Daily Express national newspapers.

David Gemmell first attempted writing a novel in the 1970s, but The Man from Miami failed to find a publisher.

When David Gemmell later learned that he had suffered a misdiagnosis, he set The Siege of Dros Delnoch to one side until 1980, when a friend read the manuscript and convinced David Gemmell to sharpen up the novel in order to make one last attempt at publication.

David Gemmell said that while it had "all the flaws you expect in a first novel", the writing of Legend was "a golden time" in his life, citing it as the favourite of all his novels.

Two of David Gemmell's novels have been adapted into graphic novel format.

David Gemmell married twice; his first marriage to Valerie produced two children before he met his second wife, Stella who had already been acknowledged in many of his books.

In mid-2006, David Gemmell was on a trip to Alaska when he became discomforted.

David Gemmell immediately travelled back to the UK, where he underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in a private London hospital.

At the time of his death, David Gemmell had completed 70,000 words of the final novel in his Troy series, an alternative-history trilogy based upon the legend of the siege of Troy.

Up until his death, David Gemmell was patron of the Hastings Writers' Group, following founder member Catherine Cookson.

David Gemmell wrote about warriors and heroes, many of them ancient Greeks and Romans.

Originally intending to be a historical novelist, David Gemmell was intrigued by events which ended badly for the protagonists.

The consistent presence of redemption in David Gemmell's work reflects his Christian beliefs.

David Gemmell credited his time as a journalist with providing him with his pacey, succinct style, although critics labelled his work "macho" and would often cite his limited vocabulary and the repetitive nature of his stories.

David Gemmell, known for his strong characterisation, attributed this to his tendency to draw from real life; having been acquainted with violent men, he understood and enjoyed writing them.

When Bill died during the writing of Ravenheart, as a tribute David Gemmell reworked the novel to give the "Bill" character centre stage.

David Gemmell has been cited as saying that a major influence was classic western movies, which is evidenced at the end of Stormrider, the sequel to Ravenheart, when some of his characters enter a mystical world akin to the Native American spirit world.