Author celebrates second novel

A Wordsley author who followed in the footsteps of fantasy writers J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling is celebrating the publication of his second novel.

Alan Smith, of Barnett Lane, has launched the second installment in his epic Harvester of the Now trilogy called Secrets of the Dark Realm.

Mr Smith, who is also an horticulturalist, began writing the fantasy trilogy while taking a career break to study the subject of writing further back in 2002.

The trilogy follows the story of Peter Bettany, a 30-year-old literature student who has the ability to recall his dreams in perfect detail when he awakes. They lead him to a fantasy world which he has the ability to control. The second volume picks up the story from where it was left at the end of the first book, The Notebook Dress.

It was published last year and has been a hit with readers of all ages.

Alan said the story had taken him three-and-a-half years to write with the final manuscript completed in September 2005. His book was short-listed in a competition run by Waterstone's and ITV1's This Morning programme.

Although he did not win, one of the judges had been impressed enough to recommend him to a publisher. "The adventures are rooted in real life and the aim of the story is to appeal to any aged reader not just to fans of the fantasy genre," he said.

"I think this novel is more a cautionary tale than the first book." Mr Smith has also written books of poetry including A Sour Peach back in 2005. He now visits schools across the Black Country to encourage youngsters with a passion for writing to follow their dreams.

Mr Smith said he had been inspired to write at a young age by the support of teachers at Belle Vue Primary School in Wordsley.

More information on his work is available at his website www.harvesterofthenow.com.