Author wins award for use of Geordie dialect in his latest book

John Orton’s newest creation, A Chill Wind off the Tyne, has won two prestigious awards for independently published books.

As well as a Chill With a Book Readers Award the tome by the South Shields-born wordsmith has also won an indie BRAG medallion.

Indie BRAG (Book Readers Appreciation Group for self published books) supports self published authors. Each book submitted is read by up to five readers who give the book a rating – only about 10% of books submitted are given a medallion.

John said: “It’s quite an honour. I was worried how readers might react to the Shields dialect but they loved it.”

After the success of his first two books, The Five Stone Steps – the tale of a Policeman’s life in 1920s’ South Shields – and Blitz PAMs, the story of the Blitz on Shields as seen through the eyes of a 16 year old police auxiliary messenger, John embarked on his third story.

It begins in 1903 when two Yemeni seamen disembark at the Corporation Quay and tells the stories of ordinary working people through the Great Depression of the 1920s and 30s.

All the books are inspired by the memoirs of Sergeant Tom ‘Jock’ Gordon who was a Shields Bobby during that period.