American former violin salesman Peter Tanton is among the up-and-coming writers being promoted in a unique festival, as Steve Pratt discovers.

SINCE moving to this country a decade ago, American Peter Tanton has done a variety of jobs, including being a door-to-door violin salesman. But that's another story. The tale that concerns the Knoxville, Tennessee-raised musician, writer and teacher is his first book, Johnny Lonely.

As yet, this is unpublished but gets a public airing as part of New Writing North's Fresh Fiction Festival, taking place at Live Theatre and the City Library in Newcastle from June 21 to 27.

He's one of four unpublished authors who'll be reading their manuscripts in front of an audience, including agents and reps from the publishing industry, during the UK's first literary festival to focus on first novels.

Johnny Lonely tells of a Southern-raised 23-year-old trapped in his parents' home in Big Springs, Alabama. Tanton describes it as a comedy about a man and his relationship with his mother.

"Events in the book are based on events in my life," he admits. "The characters aren't me, although they do speak about a broader phenomenon in America. The mother and son have mild hypochondria and mild phobias. It's about growing up in the Southern states."

Tanton studied on the Creative Writing MA course at Northumbria University, and has had poetry and short stories published in small press publications in the US.

"The idea for the novel grew out of the course," he says. "I haven't got to the stage of trying to sell it yet. I guess when a story is as close to you, you don't appreciate that other people might find it interesting enough to read.

"I've been writing it because I'm amused by the story and characters. Reading the manuscript at the festival is a great opportunity because of who'll be in the audience."

Tanton, who has settled in Gateshead, arrived in this country a decade ago after training as a jazz musician at music school in the 1980s. Since then, he's done a number of different things - from selling violins to playing in a band.

"When you come over and find yourself in these situations, you will do anything for money," he says. "I'm a trumpet player and worked as a freelance musician, playing trumpet and guitar and working as a singer-songwriter. I had an acquaintance who was setting up a business selling musical instruments to music stores and I talked him into letting me be a salesman."

So did he sell many violins? "I got loads of opportunities for gigs," he says, evading the question.

He moved to the North-East in 1997, when working as a musician. Three years later, he was songwriter-in-residence at a Newcastle school and that led him into teaching at a Catholic school in Blaydon. He says the irony of an American teaching English is not lost on his pupils.

When he came to Newcastle he felt he'd reached "a spiritual home" and later discovered he has roots in the region. His grandfather was born in Iveston "just over the hill from me". He found a photograph of him in the DLI Museum, and further evidence "that I have a real history in this area". His great-grandfather owned the Britannia pub in Gilesgate, Durham.

His grandmother, who came from Texas, met his grandfather, who was in the RAF during the war, in the oil fields of Argentina. He admits there's the germ of a book somewhere in that story.

"I've always been interested in writing and always done it as a hobby," says Tanton. "There are other writers in my family but, having worked in the music industry, I was fairly realistic about the chances of success and, basically, did it for enjoyment.

"Once you start thinking about wanting to be published or making that your quest, the enjoyment can turn sour. I would like to be published and being accepted for this festival has given me a bit of a wake-up call. I've been redoubling my efforts."

He's happy to remain in the North-East. His wife, Louise, comes from the region. She was managing a baroque orchestra when they met. Now she teaches, and there's a new addition to the family, five-month-old Ben.

"I know it sounds trite and that people say it all the time, but I do feel at home up here," says Tanton.