AN award-winning Ilkley author and Leeds Trinity University lecturer has landed multiple publishing deals on both sides of the Atlantic for his latest book.

Martyn Bedford, a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Horsforth-based university, has secured publishing deals in the UK, America and Canada for his new novel for young adults, Twenty Questions for Gloria.

He has also sold translation rights for the novel to publishers in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. The novel is Martyn’s third for teenage readers, following the success of Flip in 2011, which won four regional prizes and was shortlisted for the prestigious Costa Book Award, and Never Ending in 2014, which is currently nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the UK’s top prize in children’s fiction.

Martyn, 55 said: “I was out of contract with all of my publishers after the first two teen novels, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have agreed these deals for the new one.

“This book was great fun to write and I’m pleased it will reach so many readers.”

Due for publication in spring 2016, Twenty Questions for Gloria is the story of a bored and restless 15-year-old girl enthralled by the mysterious, exotic new boy who strolls into her classroom one morning, bent on breaking all the rules.

When he whisks her away from the life she loathes and into a more daring, more exciting one, she jumps at the chance of an adventure – but all is not as it first seems.