IT was the call Will Adams had been waiting for and he wasn’t going to miss it, even if it did mean tripping over the sofa and flying across the floor in his eagerness to pick up the phone.

As the answer machine kicked in, Mr Adams heard what he thought he would never hear.

His agent was calling to say publishing giant Harper Collins not only liked his book, it loved his book, and wanted to make him a huge offer.

Within days he had sold the rights to his archaeological thriller The Alexander Cipher – in ten languages.

The book he had toiled over for so many years was now going global.

“It seemed every time I opened my e-mails, a few more thousand euros dropped in. It was totally unreal; freakish,” he said. “That was the most fantastic week of my life.”

Since being published last November, The Alexander Cipher has made the top 20 UK bestseller list, was third bestseller in Germany and has sold about 400,000 copies. With the book coming out in the United States in March, who knows what the final tally will be?

For Mr Adams, 45, the book’s success was not totally unexpected.

After all, considering it is about Alexander the Great, whose name resonates in every culture, it was bound to have international appeal.

“In a sense I am surprised and in a sense not surprised,” said Mr Adams, at his home in Langham, near Colchester. “It is a pretty good book, not perfect, but does what it says on the tin.”

Considering critics have used the terms “cracking adventure”, “enthralling”, and “pulse-pounding”, it is probably no surprise the book has been the success it has.

But success brings commitment and Mr Adams’ book deal means he has to write three further books featuring Egyptologist Daniel Knox.

In his second book – The Exodus Quest – Knox is hoping to uncover the legend of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It has meant a new pressure for Mr Adams. After years of trying in vain to get a book published, this one will definitely make the shops.

“There was pressure because I knew it would be seen,” he smiled. “I was actually writing something which was going to be published.”

So, is his Knox character like Indiana Jones?

“Kind of, but he is a more plausible character. I cut down the tongue-in-cheek and made him a more believable hero,” he said. “He is resourceful, but not endowed with superhuman powers.”

Chatting with him at his home – a charming thatched cottage with a fireplace to die for – the adventures of his books seem a million miles away.

A writer’s life is said to be a lonely one. Mr Adams, who is single, not only agrees, but likes it.

“I love it when other people are around but I do need to get away from it all after a while,” he said.

“I’m quite freakish, even for a writer,” he said, laughing.

That said, he loves the fact one of his brothers lives a short drive away and his parents live nearby in Bures. He is also related to the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Petre.

Born in Kent, public schoolboy Mr Adams grew up in Kelvedon and Earls Colne.

He always knew he wanted to be a writer, which was a good job as he was not academic at all.

“Writing is one of the few jobs which you can do really well without having any qualifications whatsoever,” he said.

Over the years, Mr Adams did a range of jobs, from shop salesman to business history consultant.

“I was really just killing time before my first book was published.” he said.

He got into a cycle of working for several months, going off travelling, writing a book, getting it rejected and then back to work again.

He realised he had to take his dream of becoming a novelist more seriously.

He joined a communications company in London, bought a flat and worked for a few years to raise some money.

He then left his job, sold his flat, and moved to Diss in Norfolk to start writing full-time. With only enough funds to be out of work for three years, the clock was ticking.

After about a dozen major revisions, The Alexander Cipher finally caught a publisher’s eye. With Mr Adams’ money running out, it couldn’t have come at a more needy time.

Now money worries are a thing of the past.

“It is wonderful not to have to worry about money. Money was never the motivational force – not having money was my motivational force,” he smiled.

It is a situation he has yet to get used to.

After years of having to be frugal, he is yet to splash the cash. He rents his home, still stays in backpacker hotels when he goes away – he says they are more fun anyway – has the same car and hasn’t been to see his football team, Ipswich Town, this season.

If his new book is another blockbuster, maybe it will be time for him to start enjoying the fruits of his labour of love.