A CHILDREN'S author has started a new chapter of his life - by securing a UK book deal.Jon Turley with the first two of his books published in the UK.

The first two releases from Jon Turley's pile of seven manuscripts - written in less than four years - have hit bookshelves courtesy of Stourbridge-based Robinswood Press.

One of the novels, The Children Are Revolting, is a new and improved version of a book he released in America last year under the pseudonym JT McQueen, which he has dropped for his UK releases.

It has been joined by his sole stand-alone effort to date, Empty Pages, under the Turley Tales brand.

The 32-year-old former primary school teacher, who works training teachers, lives in Kidderminster with his wife Helen - and hopes his books will bring him enough success to be able to take up writing full-time, with a screen adaptation of his work the ultimate ambition.

Robinswood have also agreed to release the second two books in the trilogy which begins with The Children Are Revolting and a separate trilogy.

The first two tomes were launched in London three weeks ago and are available from Fagins in Kidderminster and branches of Waterstones across the Midlands.

The Children Are Revolting - which Jon said is "over 50 per cent different" from the original version - is a humorous tale of a spectacular revolution in a school, and sets out the stall for the remaining two books in the Arty Fox trilogy.

His first ideas were conceived while working in Dubai in 1999.

"I thought of a story and realised there was so much there it was too much for one book. The first book is actually a prequel to the first idea I had."

The novel was given a special boost when Robinswood managed to secure the services of acclaimed Bloomsbury illustrator Susan Hellard.

The slightly more sober Empty Pages, meanwhile, revolves around a teenager needing a boost in self-esteem who turns to his grandfather for help, leading him on a voyage of discovery and taking in the world of a frightened Second World War soldier.

Jon drew on many of his own grandfather's war stories for inspiration.

And he is determined to chase his dream of seeing his work on screen after his long battle to find a UK publisher ended in glory.

"I kept on contacting publisher after publisher after publisher, facing what many authors go through which is being told the current focus is somewhere else," he explained.

He has also visited a handful of schools, which he says have given his work glowing reports, to talk to children about his books - and hopes to do a lot more.

"They like the author being there. I understand what teachers are hoping to get out of it - it's a comfort zone for me."

Jon can be contacted on 07867 803358 or jon_turley@yahoo.co.uk