Jack Finlay found himself between jobs — and decided it was an opportunity to hone his writing skills.

Now his first children’s book, The Adventures of Edward, is set to appear on store shelves on the island.

Mr Finlay said: “It’s very surreal. This is something I started two years ago and now it’s real.

“It’s a little weird, but exciting.”

Mr Finlay, who used the pen name Jack Le Raff, said he started writing the book because he wanted do something creative.

He added: “Most of the work, about 80 per cent of it, was done two years ago but it took a while to get it to this stage.”

Part of that work was finding an artist to bring his story to life.

After a long search he found US artist Casie Trace whose work matched his vision.

Mr Finlay said: “I had an idea how I wanted it to feel, and she has done a fantastic job. She is really great.”

The story follows Edward the baby liraffe — a half-lion, half-giraffe — on a journey through Africa, visiting landmarks and making friends.

Mr Finlay said he hoped the book was the first in a series to help highlight the plight of endangered African species.

He added ten per cent of profits from the book will go to the Elsa Conservation Trust, a UK-registered charity dedicated to the conservation wildlife in Kenya and East Africa.

The Adventures of Edward is scheduled to go on sale in Bermuda this weekend — with a UK launch planned before the end of the year.

Mr Finlay said: “We are launching it on Saturday at Brown & Co. For the UK, I’m trying to launch it on Amazon before Christmas.

“I really want to get it in book stores, but in order to get it into the bigger book stores you have got to jump through a lot of hoops, so I’m working to get it on Amazon by Christmas and in the UK book stores next year.”

The Bermuda launch is set to take place between noon and 2pm today at Brown & Co.