Sex And The City star Jason Lewis has explained why he walked away from Hollywood and disappeared for three years.

The actor - who played Jerry 'Smith' Jerrod in the hit HBO show - has revealed he dropped out of the spotlight and moved from California to Costa Rica to work on a series of fantasy novels.

He's now explained he's working on a series of nine books - three interconnected trilogies set in different periods of time in the same universe - telling The Hollywood Reporter: "I was in a space where I've been working on a fantasy book series. Three trilogies. [It's] closer to Lord of the Rings. It's epic fantasy. It's my own magic system based more in physics than the soft magic of casting spells and stuff like that."

He also explained he moved to Costa Rica so he could immerse himself in his writing, adding: "This is me on a journey of discovery as much as anything.

"I've never written novels before this, so I don't have a bunch of feathers in my cap to lean on. I wanted a healthy lifestyle and access to good food.

"I surf, and being right next to a beach is very easy motivation for me to stay healthy ... I pretty much write every single day ...

"I don't think I've taken a day off for two weeks. I can only hold focus for maybe two hours at a time before I start drifting."

Lewis revealed he gets up every day at 4am to start his morning routine before he starts writing, aiming to compete around "1,000 to 2,000" words every day.

He added of the book trilogies: "The first one's an idealistic tale. The second one is when good intentions go terrible. You become the monster so the monster can't hurt you. And the last one is a redemption story."

Lewis is currently working on a fourth draft of his seventh book.

It comes after Lewis hinted at an explanation for his absence in a video posted on Instagram which showed him strolling along a beach.

He said: "Three years ago I went quiet not because I had nothing to say but because I had something to do. The kind of creative work that doesn't leave room for much else, and I made my peace with that.

"It's the kind of work that needs to find its people, though. I'm still in it, but I am far enough along now that it felt like it was time to resurface and share what I've been doing. More to come."