AUTHOR Penelope Evans had a promising career as a lawyer when she decided to quit her job and write a book.

Fourteen years and four novels later, the decision seems to have been a wise one as the critical acclaim for her latest book, First Fruits, keeps on rolling in.

The novel is a study of a young girl moulded by her father into his image, manipulating and punishing her circle of impressionable friends.

Penelope says that her characters are all an extension of herself, even the most hateful ones.

But in a book so dominated by a central father figure, surely that must reflect upon the author's own upbringing.

Penelope disagrees: "My father was a very strong character in my life but he was nothing like the father in this book.

"The story is about power in a family and what really makes us.

"You do find that people come back to you and say that was me."

Penelope was born in Wales, but moved to Scotland with her family at the age of 13, going on to St Andrew's University where she studied Classics.

She then decamped to London where she read for the Bar, and it was during a period as a newly qualified barrister that she came into contact with many darker sides of the human psyche.

She explains: "It was the first time that I encountered apparently motiveless murders.

"You had these extraordinary encounters in cells with people who cannot even explain to themselves why they killed somebody.

"They can talk about what happened before and what happened after but they can't explain why they killed a person.

Penelope's earlier inspirations were more wholesome, and she reluctantly admits to having had a youthful obsession with J R R Tolkein and his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Her time as a lawyer meant she did not have time to write, but she continued to read voraciously until taking the brave decision to quit her job and become a professional author.

She and her lawyer husband moved to Knotty Green four years ago after the death of both her husband's parents.

Penelope said they have found people in the area to be welcoming and friendly, and adds that having two young daughters makes it easy to meet other people in the town.

She counts herself lucky to lead a comfortable life, but admits her snug set-up does have its drawbacks.

"Sometimes I feel that I would be writing twice as much if I had to keep myself and the children.

"The fact I stay at home writing means we have had to pay for very little childcare over the past few years.

"In some ways writing can complement whatever people are doing in the daytime.

"Roddy Doyle did not quit his job as a teacher until after the publication of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

"Mostly I'm at home and I write about things that are close to home, I'm writing about families in each of my books and the people I write about are the children and what happens to children."

The road to being a successful author was not always free of obstacles, and Penelope had to deal with failure when her first novel was rejected by publishers.

"I would still like to get it in print - in fact it's my favourite book I have written.

"It's a book that would be suitable for an adult and adolescent readership.

"It's an adventure story and there is lots of magic in it."

"When I finished it I sent it out to about ten publishers, some of them liked it a lot and recommended me to some agents.

"So that book got me my agent.

"She suggested how to change the book but instead I went off and wrote a completely different novel.

"It took me about two and-a-half years to write the first book, and about the same to write my second, The Last Girl.

"It's a long process but has got a bit speedier."

"The fact the first book was turned down by publishers made me more determined to get one published .

"First of all authors want to get published, then they want to get published again - nothing is ever enough.

"That is why writers keep on going and writing until they die."

First Fruits is published by Allison & Busby Ltd and priced £17.99