A VAMPIRE romance written by a rising literary star from St Neots has been entertaining readers across the Atlantic.

A VAMPIRE romance written by St Neots’s rising literary star has been entertaining readers across the Atlantic.

Katie Ball’s tale of a teenager’s mythical experiences in Darkening Fire has shot up the sales charts during its first weeks on Amazon.

WH Smith and Waterstone’s have ordered copies of the Longsands College sixth former’s debut to sell in their stores, meaning the 16-year-old’s story hits the bookshelves this Christmas alongside works by Terry Pratchett, CJ Sansom and Tom Clancy.

The young writer, pictured, says she wants to make it big in the fiction world, and publishers Author House already have her marked out as “young, fresh and exciting” talent with “a love and passion for writing”.

“When I heard the book was going to be published, I was speechless,” Katie told The Hunts Post. “The main thing I wanted to do was provoke an emotion. Even if everyone hates it, at least they feel a strong emotion towards the book.

“Writing is a difficult business to get into but I would love to do it permanently. If I can, then I will. I am certainly going to try.”

Katie, of Eaton Socon, wrote the acclaimed 300-page novel in just two months while she studied for her GCSEs.

She sent the manuscript to five publishers and was thrilled to get a call back from Author House.

Her story focuses on ungraduated vampire Lilya’s teenage experience and is designed to strike a chord with the difficulties of young adults.

“She goes through the kind of troubles that lots of teenagers are going through,” Katie said.

Mick Donnelly, deputy head of Longsands School sixth form, said: “This is a great achievement.”

INFORMATION: Darkening Fire is available from Amazon, priced �12.49, and at leading booksellers.