22-year-old bestselling author Samantha Shannon heads back to school

Samantha Shannon, author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Bone Season, returned to her former school last week and inspired some future authors with the story of her success.

Samntha returned to Bishop Ramsey Church of England school in Hume Way, Ruislip, to meet students in Year 7 and 8 as part of the school's book week.

The Bone Season, the first in a series of seven fantasy novels published by Bloomsbury, was released in August last year, just one year after the former Ruislip pupil graduated from Oxford University.

It reached number 7 on the New York Times bestsellers list and number 9 on the Sunday Times list.

Several of her teachers are still at the school she left in 2010, but the author had begun writing short stories when she was just 13-years-old.

Samantha began writing her first novel - a sci-fi romance which took 3 years to write - while studying for her GCSEs.

She said: "I sent it off to literary agents but it was turned down by everyone. Although I was devastated at the time, I now believe it was a good thing as I learnt a lot from the experience."

In 2011 an internship at publishing house David Godwin Associates, based in Seven Dials, Covent Garden, was to have a profound impact on the young writer.

Surrounded by shops selling crystal balls and Tarot cards, Seven Dials became the inspiration for the setting of The Bone Season, which she took six months to write.

Film rights were optioned by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish’s British production company The Imaginarium Studios in October 2012 - meaning they have bought the option to make the book into a film.

"Fingers crossed it will be produced," Samantha said.

Last month she announced the title of the second book in her series, The Mime Order, which is due for release in October.