A retired miner in Sudbury has turned to a new pastime.

He's just published his first novel about another popular pastime, baseball.

Ray Boudreau's book, A Future Pastime, is more in the sci-fi genre, with the game of baseball completely reimagined in a dystopian future as a blood sport where cutting-edge technology has replaced most blue-collar jobs.

The author says the idea came to him years ago while still working underground and he promised himself he'd write the book once he retired.

“There's no more carpenters. There's no more pavers, construction workers. Everything's printed. There's no more hospital settings. There's no more doctors. You go to a stem cell engineer and he fixes you up. So, in the game of baseball, you get hurt and you get fixed up and put back in the game." said Boudreau.

The local author is holding a book signing at Battistelli's in Lively from 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday.

Copies of the book are available at the Sudbury Chapters location.