AN AUTHOR from Chesham says holding a copy of her first ever published book was like holding her new born baby, with the debutant writer’s first novel surging into Amazon’s top ten.

Jane Carling, who used to run a successful recruitment agency, insists she always wanted to become a novelist but found her busy life prevented her from diving in feet first.

She wrote "Pandora’s Box" after completing a writing course in Tuscany, and describes the romantic plot as "Mill-Sop’ - a cross between Mills and Boon and novelist Victoria Hislop.

And the grandmother of three said seeing her debut title surge into the Amazon Kindle top 10 during a promotional weekend put the icing on the cake of a great period for her new career.

She said: "It happened after a writing course in Tuscany. When I booked it I knew it was romantic writing, but it turned out to be a Mills and Boon course!

"I’m not really a Mills and Boon type writer, it’s quite a formulaic process, but I went off and did my own thing, and turned it into another story.

"It was lovely to finally see the book. When it goes on to Kindle, it's sort of in the ether, but when you get it as a physical book you holding in your hand, you think ‘God I’ve written this’, and it is like holding your baby - it’s a very exciting feeling.

"They did a freebie promotional launch one weekend and it went into Amazon’s top ten! I was on cloud nine when I heard it and now it’s about building on that."

Pandora’s box is a fast-paced romantic tale set on a Greek island where tragedy unites the feisty heroine with her nephew and a handsome, arrogant billionaire, and contains flashbacks to the 1970s when Greece was under military rule.

Jane always dreamed of becoming a top writer, but says life, motherhood and paying the mortgage got in the way and her dreams were put on hold during her successful career.

The grandmother of three set about writing her first novel in 2012 after stepping back from her business, giving the budding novelist time to finish the book and self publish it.

And the dedicated writer is already working on her second novel, which delves into a secret subterranean chamber underneath Selfridge’s during World War Two.

Pandora’s Box is available on Amazon or through Jane’s website www.janecarling.co.uk