Throwing out conventional publishing and going straight for a treeless ebook, former Guardian journalist William Knight launches Generation -- an intelligent horror "that won't cost the Earth".

"The planet cannot stand another million authors cutting down trees to publish novels," explains Knight. "I want my words to be long lasting, not my environmental impact."

The novel, now available at Amazon, was conceived from a New Scientist article in 2001 and has been 10 years in development. A science-based thriller with an injection of horror, Knight explored the macabre possibilities of Genetic Modification and life-preserving drug treatments.

"I spent hundreds of hours researching post-mortem techniques and insect-colonisers of dead bodies. I found it difficult to sleep on some nights."

He explains why he decided against the traditional publishing route. "Ebooks have come of age. There are no trees to chop, no waste. No middlemen and no censors. The author can engage with the mind of the reader regardless of territory, title, genre or theme."

"An ebook is for as long as you want it, then it's gone. It will not moulder on a shelf or suck up water in the garage. It will not take up space in the loft or end up sad and lonely at a garage sale. And it will not cost the Earth."

Knight is a British-born journalist and technologist currently living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. He's chased a varying career starting in acting, progressing to music, enjoyed a brief flirtation with handbag manufacturing and was eventually wired into technology where he's been since 1989.

In 2003 he published his first feature in Computing magazine and has since written about the many successes and failings of high-tech for the Guardian, Financial Times and BBC Focus among many other publications.

He continues to write, and maintains a lively IT consultancy. He's married with two school-age children, and when asked why the book had taken 10 years to appear, he said: "The writing is easy; it's child rearing that takes the time."