Ian Johnson’s novel The Witcher Keys receives interest from major film producers

Malton writer Ian Johnson’s latest book, The Witcher Keys, has so far received interest from Exclusive Media, the creators of recent film Rush, as well as Vertigo Films, the makers of Street Dance, who are currently looking at the Tolkien-inspired book.

He said: “They have made lots of big films, so for them to be excited about it was very nice. I’ve had absolutely brilliant feedback from the book and lots of people have said they would absolutely love to see it as a film.

“Touch wood, no one has said anything even neutral about it and I’ve had a lot of white witches reading it who have said they found it quite enlightening because they get to read about elves, but not in their romanticised form.”

The book, which is inspired by real-life events, tells the chilling tale of teenagers Victoria and Mark, who take on evil goblins and dark elves on the North York Moors in an attempt to save Victoria’s baby sister, who has been poisoned.

Ian, a civil engineer who works for Birdsall Estates, became curious about life on the moors while working on the edge of an isolated North York Moors national park village, not far from Danby, in 2003.

After some peculiar goings on and his co-workers coming to blows over alleged sightings of an elf, he began his research, which led to the book.

Since writing the book, Ian has completed numerous book signings in York and Scarborough, where he has broken records for the number of copies signed.

He also hosted a signing at the Eagle and Child pub, in Oxford, where members of the Inklings literary society met every Tuesday for more than 20 years.

The writers’ group included two of Ian’s literary idols – CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Ian said: “I am going to get my picture on the wall next to theirs. For me, that is the pinnacle. Whatever happens now I have achieved something that I will always remember.”

The Witcher Keys is available on Amazon and thewitcherkeys.co.uk