Author defies sight loss to write first crime novel featuring Hastings festivals and parades

Ned has a holiday home in Hastings and is fascinated by its sense of mystery and local festivals. Lionel, The Watch and The Walk-in Wardrobe is an experience that transports you to the streets of Hastings where you question every character's motives.

"I've always needed to have an outlet for my creativity,” says Ned, “and when I found it harder to do that visually, I started painting with words.”

Ned studied Fine Art at College and, throughout his working life, flexed his creative muscles in his free time by designing intricate stage sets for amateur theatrical productions. When he was diagnosed with Macular Dystrophy, Ned knew he would have to find new media so performed in various folk bands and penned musicals to satisfy his creative itch.

When it comes to writing, Ned believes everyone has a book in them.So it was a natural progression to throw his hat into the ring as an author, calling on his boundless creativity, vivid imagination and natural storytelling skills to craft a plot so intricate you won't be able to put it down.

Ned's sight loss and the technology he uses to support it, mean he works with his computer screen zoomed in to the page he's working on. It would be easy to get bogged down in detail and lose sight of the complete plot. By using little hacks like drawing maps of places in the story and building a spreadsheet of the timeline, he manages to always keep sight of the bigger picture.

Ned's debut book doesn't disappoint. This gripping crime and mystery novel weaves together a collection of seemingly unconnected story lines and characters. You can instantly visualise the lead characters; Lionel with Alzheimer's now but a past in the security services and Jeremy Catchpole (Worm), a Hastings second-hand bookseller who becomes accidentally embroiled in uncovering Lionel's past. There's a supporting cast of seagulls, pirates, Jack in the Green revelers and a whole host of other characters so typical of the backstreets and parades of this bustling Sussex town.

Lionel, The Watch and The Walk-in Wardrobe is available from the Pegasus Publisher's website, Amazon or by ordering from any local bookshop.