Christopher Westlake has won many prizes for his short fiction in competitions around the world. Brought up in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales Chris always ensures that his writing has a ''Welsh link or Welsh setting.

His first novel ''Just A Bit Of Banter, Like'' revolves around the adventures and misadventures of Nick Evans:-

".... a young city-slicker with a trophy-girlfriend on his arm. Fast-forward just a day and he''s caught his girlfriend in an uncompromising position with his friend, accidentally sent a rude email to his boss - and he''s on his way home to South Wales with his tail firmly between his legs. Unemployed and single, life seems oh-so simple for Nick back in Southerndown, a coastal village where sheep vastly outnumber people."

AmeriCymru spoke to Chris about Just A Bit Of Banter, Like and his plans for the future.

AmeriCymru: You have won prizes in many international short story competitions. Care to tell us a little about these? What was your proudest moment?

Christopher: Winning the Global Short Stories Award will always have a special place for me because it was my first competition win. It gave me such a massive confidence boost. I''d enrolled on an online writing course a few months before and began small by writing letters to women''s magazines (yes, I am male). A few got published, I earned a bit of cash and, most importantly, my name was in print! I then entered a few short story competitions.

The Global Short Stories Award was the third competition I entered and coming first was just amazing. I recycled the setting for my short story, Welsh Lessons, in my first novel, Just a Bit of Banter, Like.

After winning the September Global Short Stories Award I entered quite a few competitions and didn''t come anywhere. Zilch. Writing can be quite isolated. You send off a lot of work and sometimes it disappears into a black hole when you get little or no response back.

The Stringybark Stories Awards has served me well. This is an Australian competition but they welcome overseas contestants. It is a great set-up because all short-listed applicants get published in their anthologies. I came first in the Erotic Fiction Award (the first overseas winner) and that felt great because the anthology was named after my short story, The Heatwave of 76. This was the first story that I had published in paperback. Holding a book in your hand that you contributed to was such a thrill!

AmeriCymru: Are your short stories available anywhere in print?

Christopher: My short stories are included in the Heatwave of 76, The Road Home and Fight or Flight anthologies and can be purchased in Kindle or paperback from the Stringybark Stories website. I also have a short story included in the Past Pleasures anthology, available from Amazon and Waterstones.

AmeriCymru: What real life events inspired you to write your first novel, ''Just A Bit Of Banter Like''?

Christopher: This is quite a difficult one! I don''t really think real life events inspired me to write the novel as such, but quite a few of the funnier scenes have definitely been inspired by real life!

I think it was time to write a novel and I concentrated on getting the basics right. I focussed on making the characters involving, the storylines intriguing and the book an enjoyable, interesting and funny read. The characters were a cocktail of people I''ve met along the way. My Nan and Gramps had dementia and this was definitely an inspiration for the deteriorating mental health of Nan in the novel. I grew up in rural Wales and moved to London (but I haven''t yet moved back to Wales!) and this inspired the two central settings. When I moved from London to Birmingham it was a difficult time as I left a decent job and then struggled as a temp. Nick has a massive fall from grace and struggles to rebuild his life. Like Nick, I''ve also examined what is important to me in life. That said, I am a chronic over-thinker and so I''ve examined pretty much everything in my mind over the years!

AmeriCymru: How would you describe the book?

Christopher: It started off as a light-hearted comedy but I realised that I wanted to explore deeper subjects such as dementia, drug abuse and missing people, which didn''t naturally fit in with the ''light-hearted'' category! Getting the balance between the humour and the darker subjects was one of the most difficult aspects. With most descriptions as I have cunningly used the term ''dark comedy'' but I am still searching for something that sounds a little more impressive, if you have any suggestions!

It is a story of family, friendship and discovering what is really important to you. The characters are central to everything. if the reader does not care for them then the overlapping storylines and the element of mystery are irrelevant.

AmeriCymru: The book is set in Ogmore and Southerndown. Can you describe the area a little for our American readers?

Christopher: Ogmore and Southerndown are neighbouring villages on the South Wales coastline. It is were I grew up, but like most things, I only started appreciating its beauty when I moved away. The weather in Wales can best be described as mild in the summer and freezing in the winter, and so the long stretch of beach is more suitable for leisurely walks with the dog than for sunbathing. The residents of each village are in the hundred. The sheep number thousands and they stroll around the greenery and often wander on to the road. The mouth of the river in Ogmore is bordered by pebbles and rocks on one side and sand dunes on the other. You can cross the stepping stones to the other side and a little further down river lies the old castle.

I have many happy childhood memories of both Ogmore and Southerndown.

AmeriCymru: What do you read for pleasure? Any recommendations?

Christopher: I love reading autobiographies because people fascinate me and learning about lives gives me inspiration for my characters. I enjoy gritty contemporary drama by novelists such as Irvine Welsh and John King. I''ve also become fascinated by Welsh literature, such as Ash on a Young Man''s Sleeve by Danny Abse.

AmeriCymru: What are you working on at the moment? Any new titles in the pipeline?

Christopher: I''ve started planning and researching my second novel. It is going to continue the welsh theme, this time focussing on the towns Merthyr and Porthcawl. I love researching welsh history and this novel will be a journey through the last few decades. It is going to be darker and grittier than Just a Bit of Banter, Like and a much bigger project.

My aim is to make each book better in some way than the last. In my mind, it makes sense that my very best work won''t be for at least another few books, but who knows?

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru and the Welsh American Bookstore?

Christopher: I''ve only just discovered the site but it has been so welcoming I wish I had done so earlier. It seems like a dream combination for me. Obviously I love Wales but I also have family in Boston who we visited a few years ago and I had a fantastic time, and so America is close to my heart, too.

I am going to be roaming through books myself as I am sure there are titles that will grab my attention!

If you choose to read Just a Bit of Banter, Like, which naturally I hope you do (!) I would love you to provide me with feedback.