WHAT started as a short writing exercise for a Wellington author has become a full-blown novel that seeks to cast a light on a shadowy world.

Richard K Chivers has released his new book ‘Nightshade: Erid and the Shadow World’ in paperback form, which draws its original inspiration from a piece of camping equipment he and his father would use many moons ago.

Richard has lived in Wellington for the last 45 years having migrated down from ‘up North’.

He said he drew his inspiration for this latest novel from the old ‘spirit lamp’ his father would take with them on regular camping trips – noting the double meaning of the term ‘spirit’.

He explained: “This book was based on one word that my father would use - he would always call the lantern we took on camping holidays a ‘spirit’ lamp. I considered the shadow that would be cast from this lamp and thought “what if the shadow was a person’s spirit?”.”

Richard was already a keen writer and had joined a writing class led by Taunton crime writer Andrew Puckett. This was where his book came to life.

“It started as a 1,500 word piece I created during our writing group,” he said. “And it just grew from there. Now it is an 80,000 word novel.”

Set in 1897, Erid, the main character, is a street child living in an ancient city in the north of England, surviving by begging and stealing.

Erid soon becomes part of a group led by a grim figure known only as Mother, who keep a strange vigil on the streets long after dark. She quickly realises there are dangers far greater than those of the mortal world when she learns of Loose Spirits; terrifying spectres hungry for her life.

The book is available on Amazon.