A BEST-SELLING Ponteland-born author will be heading to Berwick Literary Festival later this month to talk to fans and budding writers.

Louise Ross, who writes under the name LJ Ross, took inspiration for all four of her novels; Holy Island, Sycamore Gap, Heavenfield and Angel, from the North-East landscape where she grew up.

They follow DCI Ryan as he tries to solve a series of gruesome murders in the North-East.

Louise watched as Holy Island, her debut novel, knocked Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train off the top spot in the Amazon bestsellers list.

Her third novel, Heavenfield, is set around the tiny church of St Oswald’s in Wall in the Tyne Valley, and also hit number one in its category.

At the festival she will be talking about creating a sense of place in fiction and how she transports readers to Northumberland.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be taking part in the Berwick Literary Festival.

“I really owe the Northumberland landscape my career, as without its beauty spots, I would never have had the inspiration for my books.

“It’s great to be able to talk to literary fans and aspiring authors about how important the location is in any work of fiction, and how to get across a sense of place in writing so you transport your readers to your setting.”

Louise Ross spent her childhood near Ponteland, attending Darras Hall First School, Dame Allan’s School and Central Newcastle High.

After working in London as a lawyer, she decided to pursue a writing career after the birth of her son, who is now three.

The lawyer-turned-author has now sold more than 500,000 books in just 18 months; 1,000 copies for every day. She now lives in Bath with her husband, James, and their son, but visits the North- East regularly to visit her parents.

The Berwick Literary Festival takes place from October 20 to 23.

LJ will be giving her talk, From Scenery to Storyline, at Berwick’s Guildhall at 4pm on Saturday, October 22.

Tickets for LJ’s event, or the festival as a whole, are available from The Maltings Theatre in Berwick or by calling (01289) 330999.