AUTHOR Joffre White took a step back in time by visiting his old school in Trowbridge to show pupils what it takes to become a writer.

Mr Joffre, who now lives in Frome, grew up on the Seymour estate in the 1960s and attended the Margaret Stancomb Nursery and Infant School and Parochial Junior School which later became Bellefield Primary.

“I thought it would be nice to come back here and it coincides with my new book which launched this week,” Mr Joffre said.

“It’s been brilliant to be back and it’s nice to bring something to the town really and it’s a bit of my childhood. Since the first book came out six years ago, it has been a whirlwind.”

Mr Joffre first embarked on his writing career a few years ago with the book Frog and has since released two more books which were inspired by him telling his son stories as a child.

“To be honest, I was terrible at school,” Mr Joffre said.

“It was from my dad buying me Beano comics that everything changed. I started collecting comics and science fiction and it wasn’t until my own son was at school that I would encourage him to read and write. At eight, he was a brilliant reader and writer and I always used to make up stories about a boy travelling which is the basis of my books and it was from him encouraging me to write them that I decided to go for it.

“I spent two years putting it together before sending it off and it was from some rejection that I eventually got a book deal.

“Since then my whole life changed and you are never too old to become an author.”

During the primary school workshop, Mr Joffre took pupils through a number of activities to accentuate their writing skills.

He added: “When I come to schools, I take the children through my journey as an author and show them that any of them can also be an author. We do a series of exercises to show them that if they have a story in their mind, they can become an author.

“I get as much pleasure coming into schools and talking to children about writing than anything else I do.”

Headteacher Steve Wigley said: “He is inspirational and aspirational for the children and he’s been brilliant with them.”