LICKEY End schoolteacher Therese Down hopes to have a best seller on her hands with her first novel Only with Blood.
The novel has already been snapped up by major Oxford based publisher Lion Hudson.
And there will be a second novel to follow when The End of Law is published in January.
Therese, who is Head of English at Solihull Sixth Form College, claimed: “I’ve been very lucky.
“I have a friend who also has work published by Lion Hudson and she sent them some of my work.
“They liked it and gave me a two novel contract.”
Both novels are set during the Second World War – the first, ‘Only with Blood’ is based in Ireland where Therese hails from, while her second novel is situated in Berlin.
Therese revealed: “ I wrote the first novel ‘Only with Blood’ 20 years ago, but I’ve since edited and then re-written it for the publishers.
“It’s a dream come true to be a writer, but I’ve been teaching for over 20 years and I love the job and wouldn’t want to give it up.”
