Kesgrave author LS James celebrates launch of first children’s book, Amber Costello and the Key of Infinity, written on Route 66 bus journeys to work

Lloyd Spridgeon, who has recently published his first children's novel 'Amber Costello and the Key of Infinity'. Lloyd wrote lots of the book on his bus journeys to and from work each day. Lloyd is pictured in Kesgrave. Archant

For most, the morning bus commute to work is a tedious affair, but one man in Kesgrave beat the early morning blues by using the time to write his first novel for children.

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Lloyd Spridgeon, 26, of Jennings Drift in Kesgrave, has recently celebrated the publication of his first book ‘Amber Costello and the Key of Infinity’ which he wrote under the pen name LS James.

But remarkably, the author wrote almost the entire story on his 66 bus journeys to and from work in Ipswich town centre.

Mr Spridgeon said: “I used to work in the town centre selling car insurance and rather than just sitting there half asleep, I would write instead.

“There is nothing better when someone else is driving and you are stuck in a traffic jam just cracking on.”

Written over the course of many months at around 500 words per day, the enthusiastic writer worked hard to get it finished and last month self-published the e-book version.

The story is the first in a planned series about the young title character in outer space who goes on a series of adventures and must stop the evil Izar.

Inspired by the works of JK Rowling and CS Lewis, Mr Spridgeon hopes to carve his own mark in the fantasy fiction genre, with work now in progress to develop the series on a wider scale.

He added: “It’s incredible. It’s all new to me but it’s something I am really passionate about. I would now like to go down the traditional route and will keep pushing for it.”

The English graduate is optimistic about getting a publishing deal, and despite the challenges that lay ahead is excited to see where his career as an author goes.

He added: “It’s quite daunting and you can be quite self-conscious about these things, but it is really exciting and to be published at 26 I am enormously proud of.”

Amber Costello and the Key of Infinity is available on Kindle now.