Budding authors have been posting their first entries on a short story competition website backed by the Times & Citizen newspaper and Bedford Today – revealing a wealth of literary talent in the area.

The authorvauthor site is also supported by The National Literacy Trust, and aims to find new writers to challenge the likes of Dan Brown or JK Rowling.

One story striking a chord in our newsroom is Just This Here Now by Juliet O'Callaghan – a moving tale inspired by caring for her terminally-ill sister.

Regular readers may remember Juliet from last October, when a group of big-hearted builders gave her Flitwick home an extreme makeover – at a moment's notice – so that her sister Andrea Parker could return there for her final days.

Andrea suffered from a rare from of cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and passed away on New Year's Eve.

Juliet, 37, who teaches psychology at Wootton Upper School, said: "Writing this story was very important for both my sister and me.

"She would always ask how I was, and how I was coping, and I'd always lie and say I was fine. Putting everything down into the story – the whole truth – made it easier for us both to understand."

But this was not the first time Juliet had put pen to paper.

"I've always written stories in my head. I've had conversations with people and thought, 'you would make a great character'.

"So in 2005 I decided to actually try to write properly."

And it was not long before she started to gain recognition. At last year's Commonwealth Short Story Competition, she was picked out as a rising star for the future.

Now she is looking for a literary agent to take on one of her three novels, and it might not be long before we see her work on the front table of Waterstone's.

"I'm definitely a hobby writer, but it has always been a dream of mine to get published.

"And this competition is yet another place to showcase my work – hopefully people will like it."

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Want to tell us a story? Then click here. Please take a moment to register, and then you can find out all about the competition, including how to enter, how to read everyone's work, and how to vote.