YOUNG author Mikki Goffin says she'll only believe her first book has actually been published when she sees a stranger reading it.

The 24-year-old, who grew up in Amersham, started to write her debut novel Wasted in the middle of sitting her degree finals at Warwick University.

But the former Dr Challoners High School pupil is already well into writing her second book from the comfort of the South London home she shares with her long-term boyfriend.

Mikki, who spent much of her childhood reading and writing, says: "To be honest I really, really still can't believe it. Until I actually see someone I don't know reading my book I won't believe it's all real.

"I live for writing I absolutely love it. I never thought I had it in me to be a published author. It just all flowed out really.""

Wasted tells the story of two sisters, Jasmine, a heroin addict, now schizophrenia, and Abigail, her younger sister. Abi leaves home at 18 to go to university in Brighton where she throws herself into student life with a mixture of confusion, apathy, drink and dope.

As Abi adjusts to living in halls of residence, struggles with the motivation to complete her course work and has random encounters with an assortment of strange men, Jasmine battles to gain control of her life and stay out of mental institutions.

At the heart of the novel is the complex relationship between these two sisters; their rivalry and their dependence on each other. Both feel responsibility to guide each other but as Abi watches her sister spiral out of control this becomes more difficult.

The book is very loosely based on some of Mikki's own real-life experiences and superficially on the relationship between her and her sister Lynette who suffered from mental illness and died in 1997.

But Mikki explains the book is not a true reflection of her own family or university life.

"My sister was one of the main reasons why I wrote the book in the first place but she was nothing like the character of Jasmine. I was moved and inspired by the death of my older sister after almost twenty years of drug problems and mental illness. This final factor gave me an all-important moral to base my story around, as well as a positive cause to arise from something that seemed entirely negative at the time."

Mikki left Dr Challoners High School, Little Chalfont, with a long-list of good GCSEs then moved on to study at Amersham and Wycombe College where she gained three A-grade A-levels.

She then went onto university to study psychyology and philosophy.

Psychology helps writing a lot more than if I had done English. Characters are more important than plots you get to understand more from them."

Mikki often pops back to Amersham-on-the-Hill to visit her mother and sister but admits it's somewhere she is glad to have left for the time being.

She explaines: "It is a lovely little town but there's just not very much to do for restless young minds. When I was living there it was a little bit dead but Old Amersham was great for pubs."

Mikki denies she is busy living the high-life of a published author with all the fame and cash the status is thought to bring.

"There is this myth that once you are a published author you have suddenly got loads of money. But money has got worse. I honestly didn't go out to get a huge advance I just wanted to get published."

Mikki, who has worked as a temp, an M&S shop girl and a trainee journalist, is even thinking of getting another job to keep her active and to off-set her writing career.

She explains: "I thrive on working hard. I thrive on a 70 hour week I need to be keeping busy and occupied all the time."

With her second novel well on the way it looks as if Mikki is going to be kept very busy in any case.

Wasted is published as a paperback original by Phoenix, priced £6.99.