If you are a fan, or one of 1,000 Bromley residents to have been handed a free copy of Mike Gayle's new novel Brand New Friend last month, you'll know his writing is accessible, true to life and very funny.

A style which makes him the perfect candidate to speak at The Blurb, Bromley's festival of books and reading, which, as part of the National Year of Reading, aims to celebrate books reading and writing in all its forms.

Mike, one of many authors appearing, feels his fiction - labelled "Bridget Jones for boys" - is a novel way to entice those who see reading or writing as a closed book.

My involvement is about trying to encourage people to read more and get more enjoyment out of books.

He said: "My involvement is about trying to encourage people to read more and get more enjoyment out of books.

"The thing about my books is they're fun, they're really easy to read but, most importantly, they're attractive to men and women, so have wide, unisex appeal.

"So it was quite a nice idea in getting everybody, young and old, all sorts of people, together all reading one book so Bromley Council bought 1,000 copies of Brand New Friend.

"It's an initiative which has been going on all around the country, getting various areas to read one book, kind of like a mass book group," said Mike who is also patron of the Six Book Challenge reading initiative.

Lots of boroughs and councils all over the country have been using a similar tactic, dishing out free books and then holding "mass book group" style events where new readers can talk about them with the author. Greenwich Council ran something very similar last year, also using Brand New Friend.

"The thing about my books is they're fun, they're really easy to read but, most importantly, they're attractive to men and women, so have wide, unisex appeal."

At the event, Mike will discuss his book - which tackles the immortal question of whether men and women can just be good friends - talking about life as a novelist and confessing how much he loves Bromley. He also hopes to tackle books' bad reputation.

"There's a prejudice against books," he said. "Most people get introduced to them at school so, in most people's minds, books seem like quite hard work, especially compared to television. Some of the books you have to read at school can be quite dry.

"It does put some people off. So this is about encouraging people and saying look there are books for all kinds of people, covering every kind of subject'. They don't have to be boring, they can be really good fun make you laugh they can make you cry and you can really connect with them.

"That's what these events are about, promoting reading and promoting all these different types of books and getting people back to reading again."

"There's a prejudice against books. Most people get introduced to them at school so, in most people's minds, books seem like quite hard work, especially compared to television."

Mike has seen how his popular fiction has pulled people back into reading. He said: "If I could have a penny for every time someone says to me, I haven't read a book since school but someone recommended one of yours and I read it and I'd forgotten how much you could enjoy books', I'd be a really rich man.

"It's a great feeling because, I think the problem books have is they kind of get dominated by broadsheet newspapers getting people to read snooty books about snooty subjects. But what I like is there has been this change over time. You can have your big books about big things but you can also have books about real people in real situations."

As well as bolstering support for books and reading, Mike gets something out of these events too. He gets to emerge from his writer's lair and make contact with his fan base.

He said: "When you're a writer you spend all your time working on something and you don't actually get any feedback, you put it out there but I don't meet the readers unless I do something like this. So this is my opportunity to get feedback, hear from people and see whether all the time and effort I put into it was actually worth it."

Writers, as Mike has just confirmed, are largely solitary creatures. And, while books are no doubt the focus of The Blurb, writing is also important to the programme, so Mike will be dishing out tips to any budding novelists in the crowd.

"When I first wanted to become a writer I didn't know any writers, I didn't know anything about the business at all. For a lot of people it just seems like a closed shop," he said of why he is so willing to share his trade secrets.

"It's not always about getting published, it's sometimes about doing a thing that you really want to do. I've got more time for people who say, 'I'm on my third book and it's been rejected but I just can't stop writing'."

"So I just wanted to add more transparency to the process, and what's on my website it exactly the way it went for me. You do have to do rewrites, you have to buy the Writers and Artists Yearbook, you have to plug away and cross your fingers and hope for the best."

He added: "The way I feel about writing is, it's not always about getting published, it's sometimes about doing a thing that you really, really want to do. I've got far less time for people who say I've got this really great idea but I don't really want to commit myself to writing it'. I've got more time for people who say, look I'm on my third book and it's been rejected but I just can't stop writing'. Those are the people I've got time for.

"There are lots of well-known writers who didn't get their first, second or even third books published.

"When I wrote My Imaginary Girlfriend, what's got to be 10 years ago now, I wrote it in its entirety just because so many people talk about writing a book. It's so easy to talk about something you're never going to do. When I got to the very end of the book I thought even if it never does get published I have achieved something that a lot of people never get to achieve'."

Who knows, following his advice, seven published novels later, you too could be a best-selling author, making public appearances and getting the nation back to books. But how exactly would you feel about being tagged the male Bridget Jones'.

"The curious thing about being called the male Bridget Jones is Bridget Jones is a fictional character, the last time I checked I was real."

"It's fine," said Mike of his moniker. "The curious thing is Bridget Jones is a fictional character, the last time I checked I was real," he laughed.

"I did get what they were after. Initially it was great, it was a big selling book and it did really well so it was great to get that kind of label. But I think when people picked up the book the realised it is its own thing. The books are more down to earth than Bridget Jones. They're about real people doing real things. Yes there are some comic incidences in there but there are also so moments of seriousness as well."

An appropriate preview of what to expect at Bromley Library, you could say.

Mike Gayle, Bromley Central Library on June 14. 2.30pm. Call 020 8461 7193 to book.