An Ilkley author is taking a page out of horror master Stephen King's book by publishing a cliff-hanger on the Internet.

Award-winning author Martyn Bedford is to serialise his new thriller, The Virtual Disappearance of Miriam, in cyberspace as part of the Ilkley Literature Festival celebrations.

One episode of the four-part story will appear each week of the festival, leaving the readers waiting for the next exciting instalment.

Former Telegraph & Argus journalist Martyn said: "I've never actually written anything specifically for the Internet before and it's quite exciting. It is breaking new ground.

"I don't think anything like this has ever been done in this country before. Stephen King released one of his books on the Internet recently chapter by chapter and it will be interesting to see what sort of response we get.

"They wanted me to write something which couldn't be done on the printed page.

"There are words that appear on the screen ticker-tape style and text that appears when you click on an icon.

"We've also used pictures and you can hear the voices of the characters having a telephone conversation, which couldn't be done in a book."

He added: "It's a short story in four instalments. The idea is that each week during the festival a new instalment will be put on the web for people to log on to.

"The story is about a computer geek who wakes up one morning to find that his girlfriend has disappeared. That then takes him on an adventure deeper and deeper into a virtual world to try and find her."

The author is following in the steps of the American writer Stephen King, who released his latest book, The Plant, exclusively on the Internet - to the horror of his publishers.

And although King is hoping his readers will honestly pay up to read his latest tale by sending him a dollar every time they log on to his story, Martyn's new work will be available for free.

But Martyn, whose first three books, Acts of Revision, Exit, Orange and Red and The Houdini Girl were released to critical acclaim, believes that publishing on the Internet will never replace the printed word.

He said: "I don't think it will replace the traditional book. There will always be a need for people to hold and read a book in its traditional form."

The first instalment of The Virtual Disappearance of Miriam can be read at the Ilkley literature Website on September 28.

l You can visit the festival website at www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org. uk