A GREAT Lever author's lifelong dream of having her story published has come true after she won a prestigious literary contest.

Joanna Barnard's novel, Precocious, beat stiff competition from 650 entries from all over the world and led to four publishers bidding for the rights to publish it.

Auction winners Ebury Press described the debut novel at the time as "utterly compelling".

The story explores the dynamics of a teacher-pupil relationship years down the line when the pair meet up later in life.

Ms Barnard, aged 39, started writing stories aged six after being inspired by her favourite Enid Blyton books.

Despite first thinking of the story while she was a pupil at Mount St Joseph's in Farnworth, she says the idea did not stem from firsthand encounter.

She said: "I had the idea a long time ago from when I was at school. It certainly wasn't from a personal experience.

"I wanted to write it from the girl's point of view and explore how she would see the relationship differently as she got older.

"It's quite a dark read because the main character Fiona reverts back to being a school girl when she is reunited with her old teacher. Her view was she know what she was doing at the time and that it was a love affair, but then things come to light and she realises she might not have been as in control as she thought."

After years of trying to secure an agent, Ms Barnard succeeded after scooping first place in the Bath Novel Award for unpublished and independently published writers last year.

Ms Barnard, a mother of one who now lives in Surrey, said: "I couldn't believe it when I was shortlisted, never mind when I actually won. It was surreal.

"It's really hard to get published in the traditional way these days because it's a flooded market and a lot of publishers are only interested in celebrity autobiographies and there isn't room for fiction from people who aren't established.

"I have had to take a lot of rejections in the past but winning the award has changed everything."

Ms Barnard — who is currently in the process of writing her second book — will be signing copies of Precocious in Waterstones in Bolton on Saturday, August 8.

Precocious, published by Ebury Press, is out in hardback now.