A former musician and stand-up comedian has turned his hand to literature as his debut novel is set to come out next week.

Michaelmas Term (or - why is that boy naked?) By Nick Barrett, of Harold Wood, is a fictional account of the author’s school days at Kings School in Grantham.

“It started off with a little story for my brother and it just got longer - the book not my brother he was the same size last time I checked,” said Nick, who’s lived in Havering for the past 17 years. “Because it was making me laugh I decided to carry on.”

“I have also been writing for quite a while because of my background in music and stand-up comedy and I have always had an urge to write.”

Nick’s book is full of wacky characters and colourful tales but it also touches on the problem of bullying and class divisions of the time.

“It was quite interesting. The average kids thought you were a toff, so you got beaten up, and the toffs thought you were poor, so they beat you up.

“That was strange how terrifying the first years were. We were made to realise we didn’t have the money and there was a big divide between the poor kids and the really posh kids.

“They always made a point of letting you know you didn’t have a right to be there. It was a struggle but an enjoyable struggle once you knew how things worked,” said Nick.

Aimed at parents and children alike, the writer’s first book of the series will be available next Thursday and focuses on the protagonists adventures during the autumn term.

“I have got the first four terms of the academic year completed and each individual term has its own stories.

“All the children will love its terribly anarchic characters,” Nick added.

Once released the book will be available to order from bookshops or direct from the Pegasus Publishers.