AUTHOR David M Barnett paid a visit to the Grove Bookshop in Ilkley to talk about his newly-released novel, Calling Major Tom.

Barnett, of Wilsden, near Bingley, told the audience about how the novel was inspired by a news story from 2015 when the British astronaut Tim Peake accidentally made a wrong-number call to a grandmother on Earth from the International Space Station.

The writer read excerpts from his book, out now and published by Trapeze, an imprint of publishing company Orion.

He also gave the crowd a sneak preview of his next book, which he is currently writing and which will be released by Trapeze in 2018, called The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club.

Barnett said after the event: “The Grove Bookshop is a great independent bookshop and the audience were fantastic. It was wonderful to see so many people and take some really interesting questions from them all.”