YEE-haa! Bolton man Kevin Cooper is celebrating after a book shop stocked up on his stories . . . from the Wild West.

The 47-year-old may live in Deane, but two of his tales on sale now at Sweeten's deal with the adventures of cowboys and indians in America.

Kevin, of Neasden Grove, has always been a fan of westerns and has used his passion for the genre to fuel his imagination, writing two titles, "Hard Land" and "Dust and Distance".

The father-of-one has been writing since he was a teenager, but started creating stories prolifically about 10 years ago when he had to leave work suffering from a long-term illness.

He has put his name to dozens of stories, lots of poetry and even some novels.

His wife, Alma, said he had always written for fun and had won a few short story and poetry competitions. He then decided it might be worth taking some of the tales he has published himself to Sweeten's, in Deansgate, to see if they were interested in selling them.

Alma said: "We took some books in and they were impressed with them. They thought other people might be interested in reading about them.

"He has always enjoyed westerns and even does his own illustrations. I think he loves the creativity of it. It's an outlet for his imagination. "

The writing bug has also rubbed off on the couple's daughter, Ruth, 15, who has completed many stories herself.

As well as the two westerns, the book shop is selling a selection of short stories, called "Strange Rivers", and "Random and Meaningless", a collection of poems. The books sell for between £4.99 and £5.99.