Suffolk author Robert Leader achieved an unusual double first this summer when both of his latest novels were published in the same week.

The Sword Lord, the first book of The Fifth Planet, a new series of heroic fantasy novels, was published as an e-book by US publisher Samhain, who will also be publishing the books as USA paperbacks.

At the same time, under his other pen name of Robert Charles, his 50th thriller novel Ancient Sins was published here in the UK by FA Thorpe in their Large Print Linford mystery series.

The Fifth Planet is set between the last two Earth ice ages and imagines a time when what is now the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter was the fifth planet of our solar system. Books two and three, Sword Empire and Sword Destiny will complete the trilogy.

Ancient Sins is a crime mystery set in Breckland which begins with the discovery of a 50-year old skull in a lorry load of sugar beet.

Ex-merchant seaman and tireless traveller Robert is one of many authors who has given up on UK mainstream agents and publishers.

Samhain are an American company and Robert first learned about them in Writers’ News’s Across The Pond market column.

Thorpe normally only publish reprints, but having reprinted all of Robert’s early novels they are now happy to keep publishing his new crime thrillers even though he no longer has any other British publisher.

His thriller and adventure novels exploring the worlds of crime, terrorism and espionage are published mainly by Robert Hale and reprinted in large print by Ulverscroft.

Eleven titles were published in the USA. Robert also regularly publishes photo feature magazine articles on the heritage, places and events of his home county of East Anglia and he has published county guide books for Norfolk and Suffolk with Thorogood Publishing.

Websites: www.samhainpublishing.com; www.ulverscroft.com; www.thorogoodpublishing.co.uk