Qualified surveyor turned author Tim Lebbon, 46, from Goytre, talks to Kath Skellon about his passion for writing, his latest book and writing a movie script starring Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage.

"From the first moment I could pick up a pen, I always wanted to be a writer.

My mum gave me a love of books from a very young age, and I consumed them. I started writing novels in Alexandra Primary school, often not getting much further than the front cover. I helped out at Pillgwenlly Library (famous for the 'Libraries gave us power' legend above the door which the Manic Street Preachers used in their song A Design for Life). At that age I was reading a book a day, and when I was 10 or 11 my mum gave me The Rats, by James Herbert. That one certainly opened my eyes, and I started reading more adult novels.

In Duffryn secondary school my favourite subject was English. The teachers were great, very passionate––Mr Edwards, Miss McCourt. My favourite part of that lesson was essay writing. We'd be given a list of essay titles at the beginning of the year, and by the autumn half-term I'd have written them all. I might have been the only student asking to be given homework.

I succeeded in finishing a few novels through my teens, a mixture of cold war espionage, thriller, and war stories. I did pretty well in school, though certainly not remarkable, and when I stayed on to take A-levels I still felt adrift, not really knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I think the idea of making a career from writing seemed so unlikely that I didn't even consider it. It took me until my early twenties to realise that writing was what I really wanted to do.

By then I was a surveyor, first for local building firm Davlan Construction, then for Gwent County Council. I sort of fell into that career, and for a while I enjoyed it. I took a part-time degree and, I suppose, settled into the rut.

But I was still writing. It was my passion. In my mid-twenties I had my first novel, Mesmer, accepted for publication by a small press. I can still remember that phone call, made from my desk in work. The first person I told was my boss. Of course, everyone then asked when I was leaving work to write full-time, not knowing that my advance was about £200.

I wrote more and more, quickly discovering that my area of interest was the supernatural. Influenced by anyone from Clive Barker to M.R. James, I wrote scores of short stories for small press magazines. Year by year I was improving, and so was the level of publication I was finding. I was actually starting to earn a bit of money from writing!

Still, the idea of being able to do it for a living was a dream.

By my early thirties I grew disillusioned with work, and my focus was on my writing. I was lucky enough to have an understanding boss, and several times I asked for a month's unpaid leave to finish a novel. I'm still not sure how I wrote so much whilst working full-time. Weekends, evenings, early mornings before work, even most of my leave days went to writing. I have a very understanding wife.

And her understanding nature helped when, at the age of thirty-three, I went part-time in work. I'd spent some time constructing an income spreadsheet to show that I was earning enough money. That's about the only time my numbers-based work and creative hobby came together.

I'd started winning awards, selling more widely, and I'd even had a few movie options. So just a couple of years later, the time came when I had to take the plunge and quit work completely.

For those last few weeks, I suspect I was insufferable in work. I printed out a calendar for my final month and put a big red cross through every day. My last day in work was wonderful, walking around to say goodbye, collecting bottles of Scotch (a writer's reputation?), and good luck handshakes and hugs.

It was a huge life change, at a time when I had a young family and my wife was working part-time. I was giving up secure employment to try and live my dream, essentially making a living from my hobby.

But sometimes you have to take the leap.

That was almost ten years ago. The first month was a real shock when there wasn't a pay cheque at the end of it. But I think having worked a 9-5 job for twenty years stood me in good stead for making it work as a writer. My working day was built around the school day, starting when the kids left and slowing down when they came home. I'd write when I was alone at home, then when things were a bit nosier I'd do all the peripheral stuff––emails, interviews, contracts, blurbing other writers' books, writing articles, editing, website updates, new proposals, all the other work associated with being a professional writer that isn't actually writing.

The old pattern continued, and generally things got better year by year. My initial mainstream publications were in the USA, so it was quite frustrating not being able to see my books for sale in the UK. But over the past few years I've been getting more and more UK deals. My books have been in Waterstones and Smith's, and my new novel will be available in the big supermarkets, too.

Several years ago I underwent another big life change. I'd never been really unfit or overweight, but as I entered my early forties I realised I was expanding in girth, and I spent most of my time behind a desk. I resolved to do something about this. In 2011 I undertook the national Three Peaks Challenge. In 2012 I ran my first two marathons. In 2013 I raced my first Ironman, an extreme triathlon involving a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon. I'd lost 30lbs and 6 inches off my waist. It's safe to say I caught the fitness bug, and that continues to this day. As I write this I'm eleven days away from my second iron distance triathlon, the Outlaw.

Like any writer, most of what I do feeds into my writing, and my sudden passion for exercise and triathlon is no exception. Spending long, lonely, cold, wet hours in the winter cycling up and down remote hillsides, I started to wonder how I could incorporate this new obsession into my work. And my new novel, The Hunt, is the result.

The Hunt is the first non-supernatural, non-fantastical novel I've ever written. A fast-paced chase thriller, it's directly influenced by the endurance sports I've come to love. After over thirty published novels, it's very interesting being treated as a debut writer once again!

In many ways I have a dream job. I'm making a living from something that has been my hobby and passion since I was a child. It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, and it continues to be difficult. Publishing is going through changing times, especially with the ebook explosion, but the opportunities are still there. I've had a movie made starring Nicolas Cage, Pay the Ghost, which should be out this year. I'm writing thrillers for Avon/HarperCollins, horror for Titan, and also a series of books tied into the Alien and Predator universe.

I quit work to write full-time just a few months after my mum passed away. When I told Dad he said, "Your mum would be chuffed." And probably more than anything, that's why I'm so pleased I took the leap."