Award-winning author Sarah Singleton is gearing up for more success with the release of her fifth novel this week.

Former Gazette reporter Ms Singleton, of Patterdown, Chippenham, is about to launch her new novel The Poison Garden, which is aimed at teenagers.

She said: “I am really pleased with how the new book looks. The novelty never wears off, it is all still very exciting.

“I have done quite a few book signings now so I am getting used to it.

“I have been invited to be an honorary member of the Guild of Funerary Violinists because I have included it in the book, so being a fan of violins and music, it is a tremendous honour.

“The book took me about a year to write, but during that time I have also been doing some freelance journalism and a lot of visiting schools to talk about writing. It was quite hard work.

“I am just finishing the next book now, as there is always about a year between finishing a book and it being published.

“The next book is about three 18-year-olds who are on a gap year to Goa, and it is aimed at a slightly older audience, probably sixth formers.”

The Poison Garden is set in the 1850s when a young boy, Thomas, leaves behind his impoverished family to be apprenticed to a pharmacist, at the behest of his dead grandmother.

He inherits a magical box from her, which provides him with entry into a mysterious garden which the ghost of his grandmother tells him he must save.

Ms Singleton, who is married with two teenage daughters, embarks on a five day tour on May 12. She will be signing copies of The Poison Garden in Waterstone’s in Bath on May 16, and Chippenham on May 23.