A love of nature and letters combines in new book

Our Accidental Letters (Sandtiles Publishing, £13.95) is available from independent bookshops including Wheeler’s Bookshop of Midhurst and The Petworth Bookshop plus Waterstones online, ISBN 9781399925587).

Stephen , aged 65, who lives on the West Sussex/Surrey border, said: “I never set out to write a book nor get it published ... and it certainly wasn’t planned. Maybe that’s part of its charm. On the face of it, the book is simply a compendium of letters, each of which contains simple, fictional, nature-related stories.

“But the photography, illustrations, activities and quizzes for children and their families to enjoy make this book much more than a simple collection of letters – old-fashioned letters. When was the last time you received one of those? A number of the stories relate directly to areas of West Sussex where I and my extended family have lived and worked over the past 50 years.

“It’s been an incredibly difficult few years for many charities, and so the idea behind the book is to raise much-needed money for the treatment of teenage cancer patients, via Teenage Cancer Trust and to generate a little income to support the rehabilitation of injured birds of prey along with developing public awareness of our native raptor populations such as those found in West Sussex.

“This is being achieved through SOS, the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary who offer an educational platform across the country by providing, amongst other things, owl pellet dissection kits, including sending them to Sussex.

“I was introduced to the fantastic work undertaken by Teenage Cancer Trust through a family member who lived near Lynchmere,. His sister had benefited from the Trust and had also helped raise funds for the charity in the recent past. All profits from the sale of Our Accidental Letters are going to the charities

“I’ve always has an interest in nature and used to tell my children stories of complete fiction when it was time for bed. Later, I regretted not basing these stories on the real events that I’d actually experienced whilst out fishing, undertaking conservation work or simply walking in places such as The South Downs and Blackdown Hill, which incidentally is the highest hill in Sussex. This is a family read for anybody who has had even the slightest interest in the natural world around us: primarily for parents, grandparents and guardians to read to their children between the ages of four to 12, but I know both adults and children have read the stories on their own.

"I have a book launch in Haslemere on Sunday, September 18 from 3.30pm at Oliver’s, off West Street, and visits to independent bookshops, who are stocking the book, including Wheeler’s Bookshop in Midhurst and The Petworth Bookshop, in Petworth.”