Wilson indeed!

Wilson Armitage was just five years old when he started speaking French.

It was an unusual event, because Wilson was English and had never heard a French word in his life. His astonished parents put it down to Foreign Accent Syndrome-a phenomenon that he would eventually grow out of.

Unfortunately, that didn't explain all his other hidden talents. The fact is, no rational explanation could ever account for Wilson's unusual powers, because Wilson could learn whatever he wanted, simply by dreaming about it.

In "The Market Square"-the fantastical setting for all his dream activities-Wilson is able to take night classes in any subject and absorb a wealth of knowledge from just a few hours of sleep. As though a twig of information by night, has grown into a tree of knowledge by day.

As his childhood passes by, both wary and sometimes paranoid about his extraordinary ability, Wilson attempts to lead a normal life and keep beneath the radar of family and friends. At the age of seventeen, however, his cover is blown when he meets Daisy Meadowcroft.

During a chance encounter in The Market Square, they agree to meet the next day and are propelled from a dream world into the reality of an overcrowded coffee shop in the centre of Manchester. Enthralled by their shared gift, they strike up a close friendship and encourage each other to seek a rational, scientific explanation for their unique abilities.

As Wilson and Daisy investigate the boundaries of The Market Square, Teaps, Wilson's best friend, is struggling to come to terms with his alcoholic father and missing mother. Convinced she'll return one day, Teaps sparks a desire in Wilson to use his talents for a greater purpose.

In his quest for answers, however, Wilson discovers a darker side to his dreamscapes. He stumbles across an entirely new dimension to The Market Square, "The Gateway"-a colossal structure in which time and dreams can be straddled to mind-blowing effect. Once inside the building, Wilson meets The Gateway's custodians, who warn of grave risks in trying to influence his friend's future. They present an immense hall filled with millions of gold bangles and explain that each one represents the extinguished soul of a human spirit.

Just as the pieces in Wilson's puzzling life are beginning to fall into place, he becomes painfully aware of the price to be paid for breaching the divide between the real world and The Market Square.

A note from the author:

I have always had extremely vivid dreams, and the places I visit at night have become very familiar to me - to the extent that I am convinced the stretch I fly-fish on the River Hodder by night, also exists by day.

I can tell you it doesn't, because I've actually looked for it. Nor does the estate agent exist, who's currently trying to find me a house on this imaginary river; and that is the premise of my book.

Not that dreams are real, but that they are very real when you are in them.

I am also fascinated by pseudoscience-by the "strange but true". People with photographic memories, people who can do complex long division in their heads, savants, like Kim Peek, the real-life "Rain Man", who could read two pages of a book at the same time; the things we can't explain but, are nevertheless, true.

So my intention was to write a novel of magical reality, but with foundations in pseudo-science and real physics, so by the last page, the reader has bought into the concepts and questions whether they might conceivably be true. 85% of people, if questioned, would agree that there are things we can't explain. The audience for my book is that 85%.

Many years ago, I had a thought: What if I met a girl in a dream? Wouldn't it be great if I could meet her in real life the next day?

Here is a summary of the book that evolved. Pure escapism for adult children. We all need it sometimes.