AN author is celebrating the release of his first novel.

Todd Hanley, from Odiham, has released horror action novel Sons of Darkness.

It has been described as a “beautifully black novel”, and the award-winning poet has travelled the globe extensively and he draws on his real-life experiences of the Middle East, Africa and other conflict spots to “portray the beastly nature of the human psyche”.

As well as being a poet and writer, he is also a decorated war veteran.

Mr Hanley said: “It has been a lifelong ambition of mine to write a book. However, this goal always seemed unattainable. Questions like, what would the story be about and did I have the technical skills to produce a novel always seemed to hold me back.

“The changing point was when I saw an advert from BCOT advertising evening classes.

“One of my personal regrets was that I performed poorly in my English GCSE and wanted to correct this.

“I discovered that I actually had a talent for writing and I passed the course with  an A* grade.

“With this under my belt I went on to win a regional poetry competition and  decided that if I didn’t try to write a book, I would never know if I could.”

However, despite the struggles to get to that point, the path to then getting the book published also threw up numerous twists and turns, but the final outcome was one he is proud of.

“After numerous rejections, World Castle Publishing saw my potential and offered me a contract," he said.

“Working closely with me throughout the entire process, we have produced something that I can be truly proud of.

“My military background gives me inspiration and allows me to give action scenes a sound technical base.

“I often found that if I was stuck for ideas then getting away from the keyboard and going for a walk would allow my mind to work subconsciously. Local landmarks like Odiham Castle are a great source of inspiration and I could easily use the place in a dozen different scenes.”

As with most books, Todd knew he had to look toward his passions to find success.

“I have a love for horror fiction and It seemed natural to me that if I was going to commit so much time to a project then it should be a genre I loved, that way even if I wasn’t successful I would have still enjoyed the process,” he said.

He also offered a few words of advice for anyone else who has hopes of writing a novel.

“People often ask me how I wrote the book," he said.

“My entire novel started with the single image of a motorcyclist hammering through the night. Who was he? Where was he going? I expanded on this and the novel started to write itself.

“To any budding novelists, I would say if you have the motivation and an idea then you have everything you need to succeed.”