A COLCHESTER man, who has written stories for his family, has now had his first book published.

Steve Sparrow, 57, of Belmont Crescent, who was a navigator in the Merchant Navy, has penned the Wooden Tiger.

It tells the story of three friends who help a 2,000-year-old tiger escape from a wooden carving.

Steve, who grew up in Australia, said: “I’ve always done a bit of writing and poetry, for my own amusement really.

“I would read them to my family and they always liked them, but this is the first one which they said I should get published.

“I liked Enid Blyton and Rudyard Kipling when I was growing up, and I suppose it is inspired by them as well.”

The book, which Steve said was inspired by a TV programme about India, was published through an initiative set up by the Arts Council.

YouWriteOn.com is a website where writers can review other people’s work and get tips on how to improve their writing.

He said: “I really enjoyed looking at some of the other writing on there, and I got some great advice from other writers.”

Steve has already started writing his next novel, using the same three characters from the first one.

But he said he may possibly try his hand at more spooky stuff.

He added: “I’m a huge Stephen King fan, and I have been writing some paranormal short stories as well, so I may give that a go.”

The Wooden Tiger is on sale in bookshops and by visiting amazon.com