AN author is celebrating her novel being published after the book was more than two decades in the making.

Lisa Wakely's journey with ‘Hexed’, a supernatural fiction novel aimed at teenagers, spanned around 23 years.

The book was finally published with The Book Guild in November and she has since done book signings.

Lisa, who is also a performer, is currently appearing in Maldon Panto as ‘Fairy Godmother’, at the Town Hall.

Her performing background serves as a source of writing inspiration, by helping to develop her characters.

She started writing at the age of 12 and said two characters she created at an early age are included in ‘Hexed’.

Maldon and Burnham Standard: Book - Lisa Wakely holding a copy of 'Hexed'Book - Lisa Wakely holding a copy of 'Hexed' (Image: Lisa Wakely)

Lisa said: “It was only in 2000 when a couple of girls I worked with suggested sending the book to a publisher.

“It got rejected, but I found a literacy consultancy in 2007 called Cornerstones, they’re based in Somerset.

“They assigned me an editor, they sent me a report of what needed working on.”

She added: “It got sent to the manager of Cornerstones, who said I don’t think we can do anymore of this

“I came across another literary consultancy called the Golden Egg Academy - they read it, rejected it, said it was overwritten and the characters were overwritten.

“I went over it and they accepted it.

“It’s a bit more intimate than Cornerstones - they’d hold workshops relevant to me. 

“At the end, when they think your work is ready, they’ll send the work to agents.

“They sent it to agents, it got rejected and it was only last year when I thought about Hexed - I worked for so long, I couldn’t just forget about it as a practice piece.”

Since the book’s publication, Lisa has done book signings and has been approached by schools to do visits.

She said: “I just want to teach young people not to give up on their dreams - try and inspire people, it doesn’t mean you’re not good at something.

“You might need some practice, that’s what I want to teach people.

“That’s my main focus this year.”

‘Hexed’ is available in physical form at Maldon Books and in digital form at mainstream online stores.