Burnley born author who swapped the BBC for books looking forward to publication of her sixth novel

Suzie Tullett writes contemporary, humorous fiction and romantic comedy and her latest novel, Holly's Christmas Countdown, is no exception.

Born and brought up in Burnley, Suzie attended Rosegrove Infants and the former Ivy Bank High school. And when she left school and enrolled on a YTS scheme, before working in a series of office jobs, Suzie could never have dreamed that one day she would carve out a successful career as a novelist.

After leaving school with O’Levels, Suzie studied communications before opting for a degree in Law but her creative side found it far too constraining.

So she decided to study Women’s Studies and then a Masters Degree in Radio and Television Scriptwriting which led to work as a scriptwriter working on the popular daytime show Doctors.

It was a fantastic opportunity, especially considering the BBC only take on a handful of writers a year.

But Suzie knew she wanted to write her own material, not for someone else.

So she enrolled on a novel writing course at the London School of Journalism to learn her craft, not before seeking advice from Paul Abbott, another homegrown success story and writer of the smash hit TV series Shameless.

She then went on to write five books Going Underground, Little White Lies and Butterflies,

which was shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize, The Trouble with Words, The French Escape, Six

Steps to Happiness, and the latest Holly’s Christmas Countdown.

Suzie (50) who has two sons and four grandchildren. lives between the Yorkshire Dales and a tiny cottage on the Irish coast, with her husband Robert, a retired police officer from Colne. And the couple share their home with two Greek rescue dogs, Nanos and Roma.

Alongside her writing Suzie, who herself likes to read the works of celebrated Irish fiction writer Marian Keyes, is a mentor for Salford University's Industry Advice Scheme and she also teaches an Essentials of Novel Writing course, which she designed for people who want to write a novel but don't know where to start, or have written a first draft and now want to lick it into shape.

Suzie said: "A lot of people say 'I could write a book' and they probably could, but for a book to be a success it has to have structure, plot, form and even something like the front cover is important also.

"There is so much more to it than just sitting down and writing."

* Suzie has donated a signed copy of her latest book, which is being published by Bloodhound Books, for a lucky reader to win. All you have to do to stand a chance of winning Holly's Countdown to Christmas is answer the following question: Which celebrated author's books does Suzie like to read? Please send your entry to [email protected]. The first correct entry chosen at random will win the book. The closing date for entries is Friday, December 11th.