LOCAL author Mac Cambray and licensee Peter Burkhardt are looking forward to creating a "stink" in Monmouth over the coming weeks!

In this case, the "stink" has a literary rather than an odiferous connotation and is a first venture into authorship for Mac Cambray and a first into publishing for Peter and Green Dragon Publications.

Born in South Wales in 1942, Mac left Cardiff College with an O level in English and a dream of becoming a writer of great literary works!

He worked for a spell on the Forest Review and wrote a weekly column for the Bridgend and District Recorder under the heading Hot Air, by Dai. He now writes action plans for the markets and fairs office of his local authority.

Mac, who is dyslexic, met Peter at one of the regular jazz sessions held at the Green Dragon. He told Peter that he had been working on a book since 1995 and gave him the manuscript of Stink to read.

Says Peter: "I read it on the boat coming over from Ireland and it was so hilarious it made me laugh out loud."

Peter offered to put up the £5000 financial backing needed to get the book published. Four months later, two pallets loaded with 5,000 copies of Mac's book were delivered to his house in Caldicot, with 240 copies finding their way into the Green Dragon where they are already proving a hit with customers.

Says Peter: "Fundamentally, all I've done is back a friend. The downside is that I may now have dozens of aspiring authors sending me their manuscripts to read."

Mac says he is not only grateful to Peter but also to Paul Mahoney of Monmouth Market for his painstaking efforts in reading and editing the manuscript.

With his background in journalism, it's not surprising that the central character in Stink, Ned Dobson, is a journalist - a beer-swilling, ageing lad who refuses to let his laddishness lie down!

He convinces his boss on the ailing Gloucestershire Record that Denmark were handed the 1992 European Football Cup in return for the country's "yes" vote on the Treaty of Maastricht. Did Dobson make this up - there's only one way to find out: Read Stink, on sale now at the Green Dragon, Stephen's Bookshop or from Mac himself.