Great Massingham blogger and author Robert Taylor advocates for migrant issues and for visually impaired people ahead of second novel’s release

A West Norfolk author who regularly blogs about his experiences as a blind man on his travels has delved into the world of publishing with the release of his second book.

Robert Taylor, from Great Massingham, is releasing his second novel titled Wish Dead List - a story about an Afghanistan migrant’s journey who ends up being trafficked and finds herself in a woods in Norfolk facing difficulty.

It turns out that she is in the same woods as a deluded ex-royal marine who is determined to avenge the death of his wife which took place during the Covid pandemic.

Robert said: “During the Covid pandemic, there were missed hospital appointments, people did get forgotten about, it was a stressful time.

“With the book, I hope to shed light on the situation that not every migrant is a bad migrant. There are people out there with their extreme or tolerant views.

“We owe it to these people, especially women who face an uncertain future in Afghanistan.”

He added: “I think from my 30s I always wanted to write a novel, you learn a lot as you get older.”

Robert, 65, was born with a degenerative eye condition which meant that he has gradually lost the majority of his vision.

“I remember life seeing as a child, I wasn’t diagnosed until I was around eight years old, I didn’t know anything about it until I was 14,” he said.

On his online blog, he writes about his experiences travelling around the world as a blind person, as well as advocating for making places more accessible for the visually impaired.

A regular parkrunner at Sandringham, Robert also encourages people who have lost their vision not to put their lives on pause.

He said: “I try to persuade people to get out there, some people see going blind as it being the end of their life.

“I run around Sandringham tethered to somebody else.

“I advocate for accessibility for those who are blind. I don’t go out on my own in Lynn due to there being so much street furniture.”

Wish Dead List is available to preorder from major book retailers including Waterstones and Amazon.