A DARWEN man has published an action-packed first novel which will be unveiled to international critics within months.

Former electronics engineer Kevin Cookson will see his story ‘The Trouble with Clouds’ feature at the prestigious London Book Fair on the insistence of his publishers.

A fantasy tale about extreme weather, the book is already widely available after being released this month at online bookstores and with retail giants Amazon and Tesco.

The 62-year-old, who began to pen the fantasy tale on holiday, found writing the novel came so naturally, he has already finished a second within the space of a year.

‘The Trouble with Clouds’ features main character Emma Winters, named after Kevin’s own daugh-ter. Together with her meteorologist dad Jack, they battle to stop a supernatural thunder-storm which is ‘bent on revenge’.

After contacting just three publishers, the father-of-five achieved success with an enthusiastic response from Pen Press.

The novel is now set to feature at the book fair in April, which sees 23,000 publishers, booksellers, literary agents, librarians, media and industry suppliers from over 100 countries attend.

Kevin said: “I wrote all the action scenes first because I thought that would be the hardest part and would set the pace.

“My publishers say that I write more like a scriptwriter, making everything very action-packed and visual.

“They seem really enthusiastic and think I wil get a fantastic reception at the London Book Fair.

“It’s all been very hectic. A year ago I wouldn’t have said that I could write. I only had a go as some-thing to do on holiday”.

The London Book Fair is at Earls Court Exhibition Centre on Monday April 11.

Kevin’s second book, ‘3.8’, will be released in the spring.