JOHN Stack finds solace in long, alcohol-fuelled walks though the unchanging landscape of a Gloucestershire valley.

His wife Linda has left him and his reputation as a man with the golden touch is diminishing. The only glimmer of hope for John comes through the weekend visits of his twelve-year-old daughter Bryony.

A chance encounter with the beautiful widow may offer the chance of a new beginning for John, if only he can quieten his suspicions about the death of her husband.

John Stack is the central character in Richard Aronowitz's latest novel, It's just the beating of my heart, which is set in the Five Valleys. Richard grew up in Slad, Woodchester, Butterow and Horsley and went to Wynstones School. I was interested to know, with the significance of long walks in his novel, and his Slad connection, if Laurie Lee had been an influence.

"In my teenage years, I used to drink sometimes at the Woolpack, in Slad, and regularly saw Laurie Lee in his corner as my friends and I played darts in the small bar. His writing's lyrical evocation of the beauties of the Cotswolds has always struck a chord with me, and his poetry probably did influence me early on when I began to write that at 19. However, it is the landscape itself that really influenced me the most in the writing of this book," he said.

Richard now lives in Cambridge, but commutes daily to London, and wrote the entire novel on the train.

"I make that journey ten times each week, there and back, and that presents me with a regular timeslot that I can fill with my writing."

Richard works at art auction house Sotheby’s, and the art world is a major feature in the book, so I wanted to know to what extent it's based on his own life.

"The novel is not at all autobiographical, other than that it is set where I grew up and where I feel most at home," he said.

It's Just the Beating of My Heart is published by Flambard Press at £8.99. It has just been announced as First Capital Connect's Book of the Month for May 2010.