A NEW author who took up writing at university has launched his own publishing house. Crescent Swan Publishing was created “on a whim” by Maldon resident Joseph Chadwick, who taught himself everything about the trade. Rather than waiting for publishers to pick him up, the ambitious 25-year-old has now released his debut novel The Briarmen. The story revolves around Hamish Beasly, who is is evacuated to the quiet countryside village of Brombury and taken in by Mrs Platts and her daughter Penny. At first Penny is far from happy with her new house guest, but after she and Hamish discover and befriend the Briarmen – four fantastical creatures living in the forbidden Woods Beyond The Railway – they are bound together through a shared secret.