Tell us a little about your book.
There’s a bit of a clue about the book in the title: ‘The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read’. I’ll not tell you who THEY are, or why they do not want you to read this book, because…well…then you wouldn’t need (or want) to read it!

Suffice to say that the book, which is in three parts, is in the form of a diary which chronicles the days that follow Jethro Postlethwaite’s fateful encounter with Ambassador Tukaal of the Confederation of Sentient Life-Forms United in a Common Purpose on a hill not far outside Horwich. Those days include everything that a thrilling rollercoaster of an adventure needs – pursuit, a sinister plot,  capture, great food, torture, a villain or two, escape, more food, an even bigger and more sinister plot, a camper van and a trip to Peterhead.

Still isn’t clear. What genre is it?
I always think it is a little dangerous to pigeon-hole a book into a specific genre – it creates certain expectations in the minds of the reader and whilst being in a specific genre will obviously attract people to what you have written, it may also discourage others from dipping their proverbial toe and then finding themselves pleasantly surprised.

That said, I’d probably classify this book as contemporary science-fiction, but with more than a hint of comedy about it.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Well, the first two people to review my book both drew parallels with Douglas Adams which, from my perspective, is fantastic, not only because I am a HUGE fan, but also because that style of humour is something I really like and something which (I hope) has made its way into what I have written.

There’s quite a bit of geekiness in the book, but there’s a lot of action too…and there’s a camper van (as I said earlier)…oh yes, there’s some brain surgery as well.

There’s no explicit sex, so that may disappoint some people.

Douglas Adams? So, in that case, it’s reminiscent of…?
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

How would you like the reader to feel as they read the last word of this book?
After they’ve read the last words of Parts 1 and 2, I’d like the reader to be firing up their computer or their Kindle and looking where they can download the next instalment.

After they’ve read the last word of Part 3, I’d like them to go ‘Ohhhh’ and then sit there for a while nodding sagely as they convince themselves that they had realised what has just been revealed a long time before they read it on the last page.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Forty-five years old, happily married (just in case the wife reads this) with two beautiful daughters (just in case they read this). My main aims in life as I approach official middle-age are to be a published author, poet and photographer; to climb all the Wainwrights (214) in the Lake District; to pay off my mortgage before I’m 50 (fat chance!) and to continue to strike the delicate balance between a love of chocolate and crisps and the problems of an ever-expanding waistline.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
I have a blog on which, as well as airing my often irreverent and politically-incorrect opinions, I do keep people abreast of how my writing is going.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
People can follow me on twitter: @andyritchie999

I also have a Facebook page for my books: https://www.facebook.com/IveReadItHaveYou

What’s next?
I’m currently working on the sequel to The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read, imaginatively and mysteriously entitled ‘The Book That IT Does Not Want You To Read‘. I’m also working on a few short stories as well as an illustrated children’s poem called ‘Adventures in the Great Land of Rhyme’