AN AUTHOR is celebrating after his first book was nominated for a national award.

Jon Mayhew’s book Mortlock is one of nine in the running for this year’s Waterstone’s Children's Book Prize.

He said: “Getting on the shortlist for the Waterstones Award is a real thrill. Just to have that support and to know that your book is being pushed by a big high street chain is amazing.

“The book is selling really well and is also WHSmith’s children’s book of the month, so you’ll see it in their travel stores and their high street shops.

“So far it has been translated into Russian, Indonesian, German, Spanish, Catalan and Turkish!”

Jon, a former teacher at Bishops Blue Coat High School who lives in Wirral with his wife and four children, wrote Mortlock after being laid up with a broken ankle and it was soon snapped up by Bloomsbury, publishers of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

The Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize was created to champion new and emerging talent in children’s writing. The winner will be announced this week by Children's Laureate Anthony Browne.

The second part of the Mortlock trilogy, The Demon Collector, is released on March 7.