David Russell

Best teacher publishes novel Deadly Lessons
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Tri-City News, November 29, 2006
(Copyright (c) 2006 Black Press Group Ltd.)

When high school student Trish Bellamy is murdered it shocks students and teachers -- especially the popular biology teacher who's been accused of having an affair with her.

Author David Mushens, a 12-year teaching veteran at Dr. Charles Best secondary, uses the setting and people he knows best in his first novel titled Deadly Lessons -- and he's quick to point out that the crimes and characters aren't based on his own experiences.

"It's not me," Mushens said of the protagonist, Winston Patrick, a disgruntled lawyer-turned-teacher who assists his accused colleague. "He's a lot cooler than I am." But with Bellamy's family's high-powered political connections, Patrick's work could cause an international incident -- if it doesn't cost him his own life first.

Mushens, who uses the pen name David Russell, has been writing screenplays for several years but started his novel at the suggestion of an agent friend in Los Angeles.

Deadly Lessons was an already simmering idea in 2000 and Mushens, a former television host and freelance writer, finished it about a year later. A Deadly Lessons sequel, and plans for a third, are already in the works.

The official launch party is Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m. in the library at Charles Best. Visit www.davidrussellwrites.com.