Pitched as 'a teenage Bridget Jones', Izzy O'Neill finds herself embroiled in a national scandal after a one-night stand
A young North East writer has made publishing waves with her story about "laugh-out-loud feminist" Izzy O'Neill.
Laura Steven, who lives in Newcastle but grew up in Berwick, has signed a two-book deal with Egmont Publishing.
Her book, which is called The Exact Opposite Of Okay, will be published on March 8 2018 but is available to pre-order and proof copies have already been produced to send to influential figures.
They will also be available at London Film & Comic Con this weekend where Laura is due to sign copies.
"That's going to be a high point," said the 26-year-old.
"That'll be the first time I've ever done anything like that. I think I'm going to feel a bit of an imposter."
Egmont Publishing would no doubt disagree.
In announcing the deal they declared: "The Exact Opposite Of Okay is a true zeitgeist book: hilarious and groundbreaking, political and warmhearted, it challenges sexism and double standards without ever being heavy handed."
Ficition publishing director Ali Dougal said the book was "a no-holds-barred, unashamedly feminist firecracker of a novel".
And she added: "It's shockingly funny, it's timely and it's a book that teenagers will want to read. Laura Steven has things to say."
If you're wondering about the title, Laura said there had been talk about changing it but teenagers, when asked for their opinion, said it was perfect.
Laura is not exactly new to the world of publishing.
In 2014 we reported how she had signed her first book deal with HarperCollins at the age of 23.
That was for the crime thriller Run Away, which led to a second novel Perfect Prey. But they were published under a pseudonym, Laura Salters.
The new books, aimed at teenagers and young adults, will be the first to appear under Laura's real name.
Laura is currently studying for an MA in creative writing at Northumbria University while working at Mslexia, the literally magazine based in Newcastle.
Last year, demonstrating her versatility, she wrote a TV sitcom pilot called Clickbait for national competition The Sitcom Mission and reached the final eight.
"That was completely unexpected," she said.
"I didn't actually know I could write comedy. I thought it was for stand-up comedians.
"But I got to go to London and attend a read-through by professional actors."
Now Laura is back in the world of books, which is what she says she loves best, and preparing to tell the world about 18-year-old Izzy O'Neill.
The teenager, explained Laura, has a one-night stand with a boy at a party after a couple of drinks and then they exchange, via social media, the kind of photos that should probably remain private.
The pictures, of course, go public and a national scandal blows up because the boy, it turns out, is a politician's son.
But it is Izzy who finds herself in the firing line and the subject of malicious gossip.
Laura said: "I got my first iPhone when I was 18 but sending photos wasn't really a thing when I was a teenager. The technology wasn't there.
"But I spoke to one of my best writing friends' younger sister, who's about 14, and it opened my eyes.
"There's so much politics involved in this. You have this thing called a streak, where people send a photo and you have to send one back. Breaking the streak can lead to a fall-out in a friendship group.
"I heard of streaks lasting 500 days."
Laura said Izzy became the target for some terrible abuse but was also "a bit of a laugh".
The character, she said, had been pitched as "a teenage Bridget Jones".
Clearly she struck a chord. Laura said her agent began touting the book around in January and got an offer within six days.
"I was surprised because it took around three months to get the offer for my first book, which is not too terrible but we received quite a lot of rejections."
Egmont Publishing, she said, had made "a really good offer, in the mid five-figure range, for two books, excluding North America rights."
Laura, who is represented by an American agent, Suzie Townsend, is planning a trip out there next year and will also be promoting the book at major book fairs.
All this is the realisation of a dream for Laura.
"I grew up as one of the world's biggest bookworms," she said.
"My dad used to take me to the library in Berwick and I'd take out nine or 10 books, as many as I could carry, and I'd read them all in a week.
"Even as a kid I wanted to write books. When I was eight or nice my friend and I co-wrote a novel.
"We were quite entrepreneurial and would sell each chapter to kids at school for 20p. They'd have to pay another 20p if they wanted the next chapter."
Laura did a degree in journalism at Northumbria University and then worked at Living North magazine but a career in fiction now seems assured.
"I'd absolutely love it if Izzy could be sustained beyond two books," she said.
"I think the character's got legs."