Former Leamington and Warwick journalist is set to release his second novel

Jamie Smith, under the author name T.S.J Smith, has written the enchanting fantasy novel Where Giants Walk and it will be available to buy from Thursday August 29.

It will be his second published work after his successful debut novel The Soviet Comeback, which is a Cold War era spy thriller covering the story of a black Russian KGB agent called Nikita who infiltrates the CIA.

More information about this can be found here.

Jamie, who worked as a reporter for the Warwick Courier from 2010 to 2012, said: “The Courier really was the bedrock of my formative writing years, under the watchful eye of previous editor Chris Lillington and current editor Phil Hibble, and I have an awful lot to be grateful to them and the wider team for.

"The absence of apostrophe misuse in the book can definitely be traced back to my Courier training.

“In this book I had to create a political system of another world, and the many hours I spent watching Warwick Town Council meetings were definitely a source of inspiration for all the wrangling and chess moves I’ve tried to write into the book.”

Where Giants Walk follows Barry Birchwood, a teenager with no friends, no father and no interest in having an adventure - much as he enjoys reading about them.

When he stumbles on the entrance to another world where nothing is what it seems, Barry finds himself in an ancient empire that

has fallen into darkness and chaos.

With a ruthless overlord claiming power and giants running rampant, the resistance movement looks to Barry for help.

Can he find his courage in this strange and dangerous world?

In order to survive, he must overcome much more than just his own demons.

Jamie, 39 and a father of three who now lives in Donegal, Ireland, with his wife and children, said: “Stories full of magic and wonder such as this, that aren’t weighed down by lots of violence and things like that, that can be enjoyed by adults as much if not more than teenagers feel rare, and too often we lose that escape that our imagination can give us as we grow up.

“Growing up is definitely overrated, and we all need to get in touch with our imagination from time to time.

"Where Giants Walk was so much fun to write and really gave my imagination a work out.

“Much of this book was written in the wee hours of the night after being kept awake by my then baby daughter and once she was back to sleep it was the only time there was a period of quiet and no distractions – albeit the days did feel rather long after starting at 4am.”

Where Giants Walk, which is aimed at both teenage and adult readers, is available to pre-order online via WHSmith , Waterstones, Amazon or directly from the publisher, Pegasus.

Jamie said: “Better yet, ask your local bookshop to stock it.”