A TAXI driver who began creative writing while waiting for passengers has had his first book published.

Keith Robinson, 44, wrote The Search For Orion in his cab between fares in the Harrogate area.

The action adventure story begins when a young boys discovers an old newspaper cutting about a man called Orion Hart who disappeared in their local forest eleven years earlier.

When he and his friend realise Orion’s son goes to their school they decide they have to see if they can find him.

Their search takes them to an abandoned tunnel in the Brunswick Forest.

Keith, who lives in Ripon, said: “It’s such an amazing feeling to finally get it published and to be able to hold a copy.

“I’m so happy with the way the front cover looks as you’re never really sure until you see it with your own eyes.

“I also had to think of a pseudonym, Keith Cador, as my real name was already used by another author in the same genre.

“It is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and free on Kindle unlimited where it’s had rave reviews and appeared in the top ten children’s paranormal and urban book charts.”

Keith, who works for Mainline Taxis, said the story was inspired by films he loved as a youngster such as The Goonies and Stand By Me as well as his own childhood.

He said: “The story came about from when I was at school in Harrogate.

“There was - still is - an abandoned railway tunnel that some kids used to go and explore in.

“It was built in Victorian times and went under the main town before being closed.

“I always imagined what could be lurking in this dark and eerie place.

“Through the years I kept coming back to these thoughts in my head, knowing I had to get something down on paper.

“The story itself took me on many different journeys, not knowing where it was leading, but over time I got to the destination.”

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic Keith, who has a ten-year-old son, Ryan, and wife, Melanie, has not been able to work.

He has been spending his time promoting the book and looking at how he is going to follow it up.

He said: “I am still off work due to Covid-19 which has given me the perfect opportunity to start the next book in ‘The Art of Darkness’ series, which will be a sequel to The Search of Orion, set in a year’s time.

“Writing gives me escapism, which is a God send in the present climate of isolation we’re living in.

“I can actually put my daydreaming to good use.”

To order a copy click here