AN EPILEPSY and ME sufferer has used her experience of coping with the conditions to write a book.

Children’s book The Hobble by 26-year-old Christine Hands from Meopham will be published by Athena Press later this year.

The 45-page story is about a 10-year-old girl named Lilly whose life is turned upside down when her parents move her to the country and force her to be home-schooled.

Miss Hands, of Nursery Road, says the tale is inspired by her own experience of being home-schooled after being diagnosed with epilepsy aged 10 and ME a year later.

She said: “When I was writing the story my own experience of being home-schooled and isolated from other children was on my mind, so it became a theme.”

And former retail worker Miss Hands says coping with epilepsy and ME has made her more driven to make the most of her talent for writing.

She said: “I think not having the same advantages as other people my age has inspired me to write, because I want to make the most of the talents I have.

“I have been writing as long as I can remember. At infants school I used to write ghost stories and give them to my teachers, so I’ve always wanted my writing to be read.”

Miss Hands is currently studying drama at Northfleet-based youth theatre Walk Tall, and she says chief executive Ann Duke motivated her to write The Hobble and get it published.

In August last year Miss Hands sent the manuscript to publishers, and at the end of September she received a letter from Athena Press with an offer of publication.

She said “I was shocked and delighted when I got the letter, and my parents and sister and brother were really pleased, as were my friends.”

Miss Hands hopes The Hobble will be the beginning of a career as a writer, and says she will not let her epilepsy or ME hold her back.