A CHILDREN’S author from Basingstoke will soon be launching her first published book.

Charlotte Lo's debut book for youngsters is set to be released in May this year.

Writing has been a long-time passion for Charlotte, who wrote her first story at six-years-old, and she has taken that passion through into adulthood, graduating with a distinction from Bath Spa University in Writing for Young People.

Charlotte said: “I’ve always written for young people, but most of what I have written properly and did at university was young adult fiction, never anything for children.

“Most of what I was writing was very serious, and written for a middle age reading bracket, so I thought I would try something new.”

Then, four years ago, Charlotte started work on her new book, We Won an Island.

Charlotte added: “It’s fun writing for children, it can be really uplifting and it was great, taking inspiration from my son and other children to come up with the family at the centre of the story.”

The book follows the adventures of a family who win an island in a competition, and the exploits of Luna, who really wants to own a donkey.

Things do not go to plan however, as no-one expects her younger brother to win a sheep pageant and other hijinks.

Charlotte said: “It took me four years to write and it still doesn’t quite feel real yet to think that my book will be going on shelves in bookshops.

“It’s very exciting.”

While having experience in writing for young people, the prospect of writing just for children was entirely different.

Charlotte added: “It is much harder to write for and with children than you think, there’s a lot of thought that goes into the writing.”

We Won an Island will be available in Waterstones and online from May 2.