The man behind the popular Geekhood novels deserted his canal boat on the Thames last night to offer advice to other aspiring authors.

Andy Robb was the first guest of the New Year to attend a meeting of Slough Writers - a social group of writers from in and around the town who meet weekly at the Palmer Arms in Dorney.

Mr Robb, who lives on a canal boat on the Thames near Maidenhead Bridge, said that teenagers have become one of the fastest growing audiences for fiction novels.

But they demand honesty.

He said: “In my first Geekhood book I used my own teenage memories of living through my parent’s divorce. I suppose I was a geek and an outsider myself at that time and I used all that experience which many teenagers can relate to.”

After his talk Mr Robb set the theme for the Slough Writers’ first competition of the year. He asked the members to write about an incident from their own teenage years.

He said: “Take it and amplify it, fictionalise it or just tell it straight. Make sure the characters react and respond to events, this should be the driving force for your story.”

Slough Writers' chairman Terry Adlam said: “We were very lucky to get someone with the reputation of Andy Robb to speak to our members. Andy has been very generous in giving his time to judge our annual short story competition.”

Slough Writers have a website at www.sloughwriters.org.uk which has details of the group’s programme of activities.