A RETIRED chartered surveyor is gearing up for the release of his fourth sci-fi novel following the success of his previous three titles with his young audience. 

Rainhill author Andrew Williams isn’t like most 70-somethings, choosing to spend the first lockdown last year sitting at his word processor ready to create the next instalment of his Arcadia’s Children series.

Andrew began writing fiction after the publication of his first book in 2005, which was a technical tome about domestic building surveys aimed at other chartered surveyors.

Arcadia’s Children 4: Exodus is due to be released this week and is a chase across space with the three heroes Mick Tarmy, Claire Hyndman and Nonie Tomio in pursuit of the dangerous Ed Pushley.

Andrew said: “I’d always loved fiction – as a lad I loved Biggles and Ian Fleming – so I thought I’d have a go at writing a novel.

“I wanted to write science fiction adventure as some of my heroes were people like Dennis Wheatley and HG Wells, and I love films like The Terminator, Alien and Dr Strangelove.

“I was trying to write in that kind of tradition.

“The first novel took me about 20 attempts to write but since then it’s been amazing and when lockdown happened, I wrote a lot more.

“I didn’t feel bad about sitting down and writing because I just thought, I’m trapped here, so I might as well get on with it!”

He added: “I’m a lot quicker now too.

“I get the idea in my head and then it almost kind of writes itself.

“It’s like the characters themselves write it.”

Andrew’s novels are published under the name Andrew R Williams, with the R standing for Richard, when he realised that there were lots of people with the same name following a quick search on Google.

Andrew said: “At one point, I discovered that a guy in Wales was getting loads of emails intended for me!”

Andrew has now left the chartered surveying industry behind and is focusing on his writing.

Andrew said: “I don’t think I could have written the way I can now when I was younger.

“Although my books are mainly science fiction, I like to draw upon actual history and politics.

“In Exodus, I have dual planets, one of which has direct access to the other, and I was thinking about Ireland and England when I was writing that.

“In some of the other books, I also made oblique references to the SS.

“Although I’m spending six or seven hours writing each day, it’s still a hobby.

“I like being able to enjoy my retirement with my wife.”

Andrew’s previous offerings have been met with great reviews with one describing the first novel in the series as a “captivating sci-fi fantasy story, that will keep you reading until you have finished the last page”.

Later this year, Andrew will be attending Liverpool Comic Con, where he will meet with fans and sign copies of his book.