A SCHOOL cleaner who hit the headlines after his first novel was published is to head out on a book signing tour after battling back from a bout of illness.

Robert Johnson, 27, who works at Barnard Castle School, County Durham, wrote The Genesis Project - The Children of CS-13 in 2011 and is now in the process of producing five sequels to the saga.

The author, who writes under the pen name R S Johnson, abandon a signing tour after being struck by a serious period of depression – a condition he has lived with since his teenage years.

Now restored to full health, he will undertake a national tour in support of his novel, beginning next week with a pre-tour evening at the NeST, Barnard Castle on Wednesday, March 20.

Other North-East dates confirmed so far are: April 6, Darlington Waterstones; April 13, Middlesbrough Waterstones; April 20, Durham Clayport Library; April 27, Northallerton Library; May 4, Sunderland Waterstones; May 11, Hexham Waterstones and May 18, Newcastle City Library.

Full details of the tour and sponsorship opportunities are available via Facebook and Twitter – search for R S Johnson, The Mind of a Novelist.