Writing Instinct

From a very young age I have enjoyed an overactive imagination which allowed me to create a whole made up world of magic and adventure inside my head. In my younger years I imagined myself inside this world and I acted out stories and adventures that took place there, inside my head. As I grew older this world of adventures withdrew into my subconscious and separated into individual story templates. This is how the Prophecy Series began.
Before I started to write Instinct, the first book in the Prophecy Series, my friends had helped me through a rough period in my life when I had faced medical problems. I was, and still am, very grateful to them; they really made all the difference. I longed to thank my friends for all the things they had done for me but not in the standard way. I wanted it to be more original and personal so I decided to write a series of books dedicated to my friends.
The spark that brought together this goal and the Prophecy Series was a short conversation I had with my friend Abi when we were both 15 years old.
I asked her, "If you had a power what would it be?"
She answered, "I'd be able to turn into a dog."
I then went on to write Instinct, formerly titled Abigail, naming one of the two main characters after my friend Abi and dedicating the book to her. A few days after my 16th birthday in 2007 I submitted my manuscript to Undiscovered Authors, a competition held by Discovered Authors, the publisher, every so often. Roughly six months later I learnt that I had not won the competition but the publishing house was still willing to offer me a contract, under their 4 o'clock press imprint. This required me to make a reasonable payment towards the publication of my book, which my parents kindly loaned to me. Unfortunately shortly after this Discovered Authors had a staff change, a take over then a move so, through no fault of theirs, it was not until September 2008, a year after my contract was signed, that things really started to get done with regards to my book. 
Instinct, my first book, was published on 27th March 2009.