A former journalist has been nominated for a top award after writing a novel during lockdown.

Jessie Wells, whose real name is Rachael Tinniswood, has written a book called The Good News Gazette.

The book tells the story of a journalist who got fed up with “negative” news and decides to start a new newspaper only focusing on “positive” stories.

Inspired by acts of kindness in communities across the UK when the pandemic first hit in 2020, it has now been nominated for the Romantic Novelist’s Association’s Annual Joan Hessayon Award 2022.

Jessie, pictured, who used to work for the Liverpool Echo, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be a contender for such a prestigious award. ‘

“The Good News Gazette’ was written during the first lockdown, at a time when real life was scary and disappearing into an imaginary, safer world provided a much-needed source of comfort.

“We may be well out of lockdown, but I hope that ‘The Good News Gazette’ will continue to uplift and reassure readers as it did for me when I was writing it, reminding us all that there’s a lot of good out there – and that we don’t need to search too hard to find it.”

The Joan Hessayon Award showcases a variety of debut novels within the genre of romantic fiction. The nominees are then judged by a panel of published authors from the RNA and publishing industry professionals.