Cockermouth School student Bethany Lawson publishes Amnesia

Bethany Lawson, who studies at Cockermouth School, was inspired to write her first fantasy novel, Amnesia, by her favourite fantasy authors, Rick Riordan and Neil Gaiman. 

Many of her ideas appear to her in dreams, she says, and Amnesia is no different, as it tells the story of Alex Bardot, a young girl who uncovers a forgotten diary with a dark past, before being transported to the land of Eldraies in the realm of Patriem. 

Bethany's mother, Sue, is incredibly proud of her daughter's achievements. 

She said: "She's always been interested in the likes of Percy Jackson and anything to do with Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett. She's been writing a lot since she was in primary school.

"Last summer she got involved with a writer's forum in America where people from across the world would critique your writing. That helped her a lot with her writing.

"She's sent them a link to her book, and people are starting to buy it in America.

"She loves it, she's got a five-book series planned out and the second one is already on the way. She loves meeting people who are interested in fantasy, and she just wants to get better and better now.

"Fantasy writers like to create their own world, she's building her own empire and already has the ideas in place for the next few. It's definitely something she's going to keep going with."

Amnesia is available to buy online now (Image: Supplied)

Amnesia is available to buy on Amazon, and Bethany has already managed to sell around 50 copies since its December release.

Bethany added: "I wanted to write something for those who were really struggling in the pandemic lockdown and those who were desperate to escape.

"A lot of people did this through movies and books so I thought I’d give them another realm to run to. Now there’s a whole new world of Eldraies and countless lovable characters for those same people to relate to and feel free to explore with.

"I hope readers enjoy discovering Eldraies the way I did."