A SWINDON grandfather is sampling the joys of authorship for the first time at 73.

Peter Perrin, of Coleview, is the author of newly-published e-book, Grace’s Turmoil.

Set in a retirement village, it tells the story of a strong-minded divorced artist called Grace who is wooed by a widowed RAF Air Commodore.

Although a love story about older people isn’t conventional, Peter discovered during the four-year writing process that he was tapping into a growing genre called Seasoned Romance.

He said: “I have a bee in my bonnet. Older people are seen by so many to have one foot in the grave, and just sit in front of the telly with their feet up.”

His message in the book is that older people are just as capable as younger ones of enjoying life, friendships and love to the full.

The book is unusual in another way. “I didn’t start writing until I was 69 – that’s the funny thing,” said Peter.

“Most authors have been writing since they were knee-high to a grasshopper. I never had any driving ambition to write.”

The nearest he had come to being a writer were a few poems and some stories told to his children many years ago.

Peter is originally from Romford in Essex. He spent almost 15 years in the RAF, serving in locations including Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and what is now Yemen.

He later worked in various civilian roles including quality control, procurement management and engineering.

Now retired, he spends much of his spare time carp fishing, and playing video and PC games including World of Warcraft.

The inspiration to add writing to his list of passions was unusual.

“Just over four years ago my 14-year-old granddaughter self-published a book with Amazon.

“I thought, ‘Well, if she’s not too young to write, I’m not too old to write. Maybe I could write something even though I’m getting on. It’ll be good exercise for my brain.’”

Peter enjoyed the experience of writing the novel so much that he plans a sequel.

Grace’s Turmoil is published by Devine Destinies, whose website is www.devinedestinies.com

The novel is also available through Amazon.