A DEBUT author has launched a crowdfunding campaign to get his first novel into print.

The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas, a ‘compelling and suspenseful postmodern mystery,’ is about a journalist searching for the truth about a reclusive artist through six decades of fabricated history.

The novel is told through a combination of hard-boiled prose, biography, letters, emails and phone transcripts.

Mr James, 36, from Cullercoats, North Tyneside, said: “It’s been my dream to become a published author since I was a little boy and I’m asking for the North- East to get behind me.

“Dead Ink Books is a small, independent publisher who need to supplement their budget for my novel with money raised through crowdfunding and pre-order sales.”

Every copy sold will go towards the crowdfunding target and will help make the book a reality.

If the campaign is successful, the novel will be launched in book shops in November this year.

People can read a 500-word extract from the novel on the Dead Ink Books website.

To pre-order a copy click here