Adam Maxwell had his first book published in 2006, and has recently expanded from publishing short stories on his website to producing podcasts of him reading his stories.

The site received thousands of hits every month, earning the Newbiggin Writers Group member the North East Digital Award for Best Podcasting Campaign.

After scooping the accolade, Adam said: "It's absolutely amazing to win a digital award for something as 'traditional' as writing short stories."

He described himself as 'a writer firmly based in the digital age', and added: "When I was growing up podcasting was just called 'taping' and was done with a cassette recorder.

"I was disappointed to see that most authors do not bother with the internet at all, and this led me to start thinking about what else I could do to use the internet as a writer.

"Now, once a month I sit down and record myself reading one of the stories then post it to the website."

To subscribe to Adam's podcasts, visit www.adammaxwell.com