A Llanrhystud man has turned his attention to Father Christmas to turn his childhood dream of writing a book into reality.

‘The Christmas That Santa Shaved Off His Beard’ by Mat Chapman, out now, is written in rhyme and follows a rather disastrous night one Christmas Eve.

Mat, from Kent, said: “As a child I loved reading and dreamt one day I would write my own book, but I left school and embarked on a three-decade career working within the gas industry.”

A 2013 trip to Devils Bridge changed life for Mat, wife Angie and grown-up children, Luke and Amy.

“We had our first holiday to Wales, staying at Devils Bridge, and immediately fell in love with the warmth of everyone we met and the outstanding natural beauty of the area.

“We returned to West Wales at every opportunity, determined to relocate to Ceredigion.

“The stars aligned and our dream came true in 2017. We moved near Llanrhystud where we found employment with local businesses and integrated into the community, making some great friends along the way.”

Mat took a year out to study Property Maintenance at Coleg Ceredigion and worked as a handyman in a care home and a caravan park, but Mat’s life changed again.

“Earlier this year, with plenty of aches and pains, I decided to take a step back from physical, manual work to concentrate on following my dream of publishing my own book.

“I have always enjoyed writing. For as long as I can remember have always written poems.

“A couple of years ago I started writing a rhyming story. I made it about half-way through but ran out of steam and had put it to one side.

“My mum happened to see it and a couple of months later. When I asked what she wanted for Christmas, she said she to know what happens in the story.

“That gave me the motivation to finish the book and reignited that childhood ambition.”

‘The Christmas That Santa Shaved Off His Beard’ is Mat’s first published work.

“The illustrations have been done by a really talented family friend, Julie Whitham, and we are now working on our next two books,” said Mat.

‘The Christmas That Santa Shaved Off His Beard’ is for sale at Amzon, available to order at Waterstones.

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