HE might have waited until he was in his 40s to publish his first book but now Broadwindsor author Steven Loveridge is making up for lost time.

The Cambridge history graduate, former restaurateur, businessman and father-of-three has brought out the sequel to his first children’s book.

The Palace Library, about three children who discover a hidden library full of magical books, came out in 2012 and was the first of what has always been planned as a series about the magic of reading, the power of libraries and the importance of great books.

Now its sequel the Guardian of the Scrolls has hit the book shops.

Steven Loveridge originally thought to write his three young children a short story.

But it just grew into a full length novel.

For the second instalment he’s had some expert critics – from the book club he runs at his children’s school Perrott Hill near Crewkerne.

He said: “The group were the first to read it and I got a lot of feedback about the book, the story and the characters and what they liked – or didn’t like - about it.

“They were my first and severest critics but I did tell them I wanted as much as criticism as possible.

"Children are very honest critics. They might not structure their criticism like a professional editor would but they tell you what they liked and what they didn’t.”

They were very positive, he said, but with their feedback he did redraft parts of the work.

He also spends time touring the country reading from his books and says it’s a great way of actually meeting the people who read his work.

He added: “It is great for getting a feel for what they enjoy reading.

"It is an interesting way of looking at children’s books and of getting a different perspective on them.

“That’s the thing about children’s books you are selling them to adults but it is a different age group that reads them.”

And he still believes that all libraries have magical books in them somewhere and loves to encourage youngsters to read.

This year’s big project though is not for children.

He is taking aspects and characters from his first attempt at a novel – a thriller – and adapting those.

He said: “Sometimes first novels are best left in a drawer!”

Which is why it won’t be recognisable – apart from the kernels he is taking from the attempt.

For his foray into the publishing world he organised getting the book out himself and with a strong background in internet marketing he had all the tools to feel confident doing it.

His new offering is also for sale in all the online outlets, including Amazon, as well as bookshops.

Mr Loveridge lives in Broadwindsor with his wife and their children, a cocker spaniel, two ponies and a horse.