Postman Robert Craig has become a real man of letters after getting his first novel published.

Robert, 41, dreamed up the plot of his book Cover To Cover while delivering mail on his patch in Heaton, not far from where he lives with his partner and her two children, off Haworth Road.

He quietly bashed out the novel on an old manual typewriter every day after finishing his morning rounds, then astounded his colleagues by announcing he had scooped a five-figure publishing deal.

Wiedenfeld & Nicholson, one of the publishing imprints of the major book group Orion, is marketing Cover To Cover as their lead book for February.

It tells the story of cynical 29-year-old literature-lover Tanya who one day discovers a book in a mysterious second-hand bookshop which seems to have been written by her and tells the story of her life so far - and what happens to her next.

Robert will next week see his novel, which is described by his agent as an "antidote to Bridget Jones-type books", on the shelves of top bookshops such as Waterstones - co-incidentally, the place where he first came up with the story 15 years ago.

He said: "There used to be a flea market in the Wool Exchange every Tuesday and there were a couple of quite good second-hand book stalls there, where I used to just buy anything and everything to read.

"One day I picked up a book by an author with the same name as me - and just for a split-second thought how weird it would be if you found a book that somehow told your life story."

Robert, a former pupil of Belle Vue Boys' School, has written creatively for as long as he can remember, but Cover To Cover was the first book he submitted for publication. He said: "I'd written other things but nothing I thought about sending off. I kept the idea about the book at the back of my head for all that time, and I knew it would make a good story, so I took my time about writing it and tried to make it as good as I possibly could.

"I decided to make the main character a woman as a reaction to all the 'chick-lit' books around at the moment, which don't seem to relate to the lives of any women I know."

He sent the first three chapters off to a literary agent in London who asked to see the finished product as soon as he had completed it. Within days of delivering the final draft his agent had clinched him a publishing deal.

"It was just amazing," said Robert. "I was dancing around the house when I heard. I can't wait to actually see it on the shelves of bookshops.

"No-one at work knew I was writing a book, and when I told them I'd got a publishing deal they were quite surprised. Everyone has been really good, wishing me well and congratulating me."

Robert is continuing with his job as a postman, though he's gone part-time to enable him to concentrate on his writing. He's already completed the first draft of his second book, which is set in Bradford.

He said: "I've got five or six novels already planned out. It's still difficult to take in that I'm a published writer, though. I keep picking up the book and thinking 'is this really me?'."

A reception to launch Cover To Cover, including readings from the book by Robert, will take place at Waterstones, Hustlergate, Bradford, at 6.30pm on Thursday, February 13. The book will be on sale from then priced £9.99.