AN AUTHOR from Ellesmere has become a role-model for dyslexia sufferers after penning two novels with more in the pipeline.

Dyslexia sufferer, Tomos Roberts proved his critics wrong by writing a series of books entitled The Horse Lord and Rose’s Story, as part of the Riders of the North series.

Tomos, pictured, is in the top one per cent of severe dyslexia sufferers in the country and hopes his achievements will inspire other dyslexics.

“I never wanted to be a writer,” he said. “I’m highly dyslexic and was going to join the army. I went to university first and went to join the army as an officer.

“The training went quite well but I was pulled in at the end and was told I wasn’t through because I’m dyslexic. It was a shock, but I head to deal with it. It was weird because my dyslexia had never been a stop before.”

The 24-year-old began writing short stories in his free time, inspired by Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones and his brother encouraged him to send it off to an online publishers called Lulu.

Eight months ago, his first book, The Horse Lord was published and just three weeks ago, his second, Rose’s Story, was released.

Tomos revealed that he has struggled to find employment due to his dyslexia despite graduating from university with a history degree.

“I’ve got a really good degree and I’ve shown people I can do it,” he said. “I wrote a 20,000 word dissertation in university but people think I can’t spell, so it’s hard to find jobs.”

However, he admits penning the books was “frustrating” as he has to work extra hard to ensure his writing was top quality.

He added: “I have to take double or even triple the writing time to sort it out so people could understand it. My sentence structure is often wrong but I’ve got a really good team of editors behind me now.

“I just love what I’m doing. Being a writer is the best job ever and I’ve had such positive responses from dyslexic people and their parents. Dyslexics often feel like they need to do a practical job but that’s not the case. Dyslexia sufferers are often very creative people with the ability to find different ways around a problem.”

l For more information on Tomos and his books, visit www.ridersof

thenorth.wordpress.com