AN author hopes his new thriller inspired by his severely disabled daughter will win a £20,000 prize to help two charities that have supported him and his family.

Paul L Arvidson, a full-time carer for Eleanor, ten, affectionately known as Nenna, has published The Wheels of Cady Grey on Amazon.

The heroine, Cady Grey, is a fictionalised teenage version of Nenna, who uses a wheelchair and has complex medical needs.

Paul, 49, from West Bagborough, said: "Nenna is a SWAN - (Syndromes Without A Name) - meaning she is currently undiagnosed.

"Most of her symptoms have a life-limited nature to them but she is exactly how you would expect a ten-year-old to be.

"Nenna is tube fed and globally delayed but not lacking in personality, drive or sense of humour, and she is very good at getting her point across."

Paul was writing the plot for his next science fiction book when the image of Cady – "a spitty, sweary teenager in a wheelchair" – stuck in his head.

"When I first got the image, I had no idea of who she was, why she was in the wheelchair, even what kind of book it was," he said.

"But in the process of writing the novel, I recognised Nenna’s determination and fieriness in the character, and how kids and adults in wheelchairs can be side-lined by society – it allowed me to be angry about it."

The book took nine months to write and has been entered in the Kindle Storyteller Award 2019.

Copies bought or downloaded before September 10 will help put him in the running for the award. If he wins, he plans to donate half the winnings to Children's Hospice South West (CHSW) and SWAN UK. He is also donating half the profits of every book bought or downloaded to the charities.

Paul, Nenna, his wife Cheryl and older daughter Leah, 11, have been receiving support from CHSW for five years and are able to take regular respite breaks at its Little Bridge House hospice near Barnstaple.

"We love it there," said Paul, who gave up a career as a lighting designer to become Nenna's full-time carer.

"It’s saved our sanity and out marriage more times than I care to count.

"Nenna doesn’t sleep all that well as she is unable to turn herself in bed due to her condition.

"We have broken sleep every night but every time we come to Little Bridge House we are able to catch our breath for a few days.

"There is someone there to help support Nenna through the night or to bring us all a plate of food with something awesome to eat."

You can download or buy a paperback version of The Wheels of Cady Grey at http://bit.ly/CadyGrey