Shropshire teenager gets first novel published

Meet Callum Espley-Clegg, whose book The Jewel of Barthimia – the first of the Athena's Descendants series – has just been published and is now available through Amazon and Waterstones.

Shrewsbury resident Callum, 13, from Sundorne School & Sports College, described the book as 'a combination of Greek mythology and teen fantasy'.

"It is based around Greek mythology but brought into the modern day, following 12 teenagers and their bid to save the world.

"I have always found Greek mythology really interesting and many of the characters are taken from mythological tales.

"The Jewel of Barthimia is the first of the Athena's Descendants series. I have got the ideas for the next three books and we'll have to see where we are after that.

"I suppose it is aimed at my age group and several friends from school have been brought into the story – now everyone at school wants to be in my books!"

It would be reasonable to assume that Callum has held a lifelong passion for writing and literature, but not so.

"I had always thought of myself as more of a maths person and I wasn't really into reading at all," said Callum.

"However, I read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of books and they really inspired me to write my own. I quickly read the Harry Potter series and since then I have been concentrating on writing myself."

And who's to say Callum won't become a JK Rowling, reeling off success after success?

He's certainly got a fantastic support network and Callum is keen to thank those who have helped him get this far with his literary efforts.

"My mum and sister Cassie have been really supportive and so has the school," he said. I also want to thank Darryl Walker, an artist and friend of my mum's, for painting the pictures for the front cover."

Angela Bithell, assistant head at Sundorne, said the school was delighted by what Callum has achieved so far and strongly believes that he can go on to even greater success.

She said: "Not only is Callum extremely creative, but he also has the ambition and determination to see a project through which most others might not manage, especially when there's schoolwork to do as well.

"He's worked so hard for the last 18 months or so – he had to carry out a great deal of research.

"I have encouraged him as much as possible at school and I know his mum, Diane, and family have been an enormous support to him at home."

For more information visit www.athenasdescendants.com