A WEE County author is hard at work on a follow-up to her first self-published book following a great reception to her work.

Tullibody author Rochelle Hanslow recently self-published her first book, How to Rest on a Rainbow, and has been blown away by the response.

The book was written by Rochelle, and illustrated by her husband Dan, after she had to explain to her boys Macen and Carson what happened when their dog Vader passed away.

Now, she’s working on the follow-up, How to Fix a Rainbow, and detailed the reception the first book has had.

Rochelle said: “I had three publishers offer me a contract for my book but, on reading them, they didn’t seem like the kind of contract I was looking for, I didn’t feel as if the fit was right.

“I’ve been really lucky because I know, as a first-time author, the likelihood of them picking it up and taking it [forward] is about one per cent.

“The feedback that I got was amazing and I was really shocked, they didn’t have a lot of negative things to say about it.”

On top of the feedback from publishers, customers have been in touch to say how much they’ve enjoyed the book.

Rochelle added: “A lot of people have got in touch, somebody actually got it because their dog was getting really quite old and they didn’t think they had long left.

“A couple of weeks later, unfortunately, the dog did pass and they said the book has been an absolute comfort to them.

“It means the world to me.”

Rochelle is now half-way through the follow-up and hopes to release it at the end of March.

Once again, her words will be alongside illustrations by her husband Dan, and this working relationship is proving fruitful.

She added: “I think what makes the book [unique] is my words can go with the image, and I don’t think I’d be able to convey that with someone else because Dan understands me and what I’m trying to say.”

On top of the follow-up book, Rochelle’s also working on a novel for young adults.

She added: “I’ve always believed to write well you have to write what you know. So, I’m basing it on personal experience.

“[It’s about]: you meet someone, you think they’re great, they turn out not to be great, and it’s about not grinding yourself down.”

She recently submitted the first two chapters to a competition and got good feedback.

Her plan now is to work on her own website and hopefully be able to add merchandise for her books while Dan is using his expertise to work on a book trailer.