A TEENAGER has overcome the set-back of a debilitating medical condition to publish her first novel.

Fifteen-year-old Lauriane Povey, of Billingham, said her novel came to her in a nightmare about the death of her still-living grandfather when she was just 12.

The student is now in a dialogue with another, bigger, publisher about another book she has written about cyber-bullying in schools.

Lauriane was a dedicated athlete involved in cross-country running, karate, football and trampolining but had to give all those sports up after she was diagnosed with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome.

The syndrome means that Lauriane’s joints ‘pop out’, a condition that can be relatively benign but is severe in Lauriane’s case and often means she can hardly walk.

The pupil of St Michael’s Roman Catholic Secondary School in Billingham, was, like Mary Shelley with Frankenstein, inspired by a nightmare.

But Lauriane laughed that she hadn’t told her grandfather, Ken Turner of Thornaby, that the dream of his death has inspired her debut novel.

She said: “I was 12 and I had this horrible dream about my granddad dying. I woke up, I was half-asleep, and I sat on the sofa and started writing it down.

“In the story my granddad dies in a car crash, which isn’t how it happened in my dream, but my granddad’s going to get a bit of a shock when he reads this.”

Lauriane, who has already won an A* for her maths GCSE and is on course to receive As in biology, physics and chemistry, despite only just starting her final school year, spent well over a year writing the story.

“It was very hard to write,” she said.

“It’s set in the past, present and future but all written in the first person. It’s for teenagers and it’s all about dreams physically becoming true. I wasn’t really thinking of being published, I just wanted to write this story.”

Lauriane’s mother, Lisa Clarke, read the story on the computer and was so impressed she suggested sending it to publishers.

New publisher, The Wacky Wordshop, agreed to publish Living A Nightmare. It is available on Amazon priced £7.99.

Lauriane hopes to become a writer but also has hopes of being involved in politics and environmental issues when she grows up.