Read writer's Jane Austen sequel

Not one to do things by halves, Read author Linda Sawley (68) has penned a sequel to Jane Austen's famous "Pride and Prejudice" with her follow-up titled "Pemberley in Waiting".

Former nursing sister Linda is also making a donation from the sale of each book to her two charities, Petal, raising money for cancer research in the north of England, and Derian House Children's Hospice.

Linda said: "The book is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Doing a sequel to someone else's book is fun. You are given the characters, but can make new twists and turns to their lives.

"I've already said that this is my last book several times, but I keep getting ideas in my head, so I'll never say 'never'!

"I dedicated the book to an amazing lady Marjorie Lee, who attended my church, Rosehill Baptist Church, and who also loved Jane Austen. I resisted telling her that I'd dedicated it to her as I wanted to see her face when she opened the book. Sadly Marjorie died four days before the books arrived so I wasn't able to tell her."

Linda, who worked as a sister on the children's ward at Burnley General Hospital, later became a senior lecturer at University of Central Lancashire teaching children's nursing.

She added: "Long retired now, besides writing, I run a toddler group, Little Steps, at Rosehill Baptist Church. I'm also a tour guide at Browsholme Hall near Clitheroe. I also go out speaking many times a year.

"My last three books have been Kindle only, but I ended up getting about 30 copies downloaded in A4 format for friends who don't have/won't have a Kindle. My printing firm, Sherwood of Nottingham, is happy to do small print runs at a very competitive price. So this time, I've made book copies as well as a Kindle version. Sales on Amazon are flying, with over 430 downloads already."