Lily Divall is eighteen and has just left school. As if studying for her final assessments wasn’t enough, she was also working on her debut novel. It's a story Lily has been working on for years but now A False Creation is finally due for release on the 29th September.

How would you describe A False Creation and who would you say it is aimed at?

A False Creation is a story about a race of people who have the ability to control fire, and their additional “Gifts” which they believe were given to them by their God: shape-shifting, prophecy, elixir-making, mind-reading, and flight. The story follows five sixteen-year-olds within this world, and their discovery that their lives aren’t quite as safe as they once thought they were, and how their world is quickly changing around them. I would say it’s aimed at teenagers, given that that’s the age of the main characters, but anyone who’s interested in fantasy or adventure could be interested.

What first gave you the idea for the book and what inspired you to write it down?

I started writing the story when I was thirteen. The Twilight series was at its height, and every single book in the teen fiction genre involved vampires, or werewolves, or a girl whose life changed the moment they met a boy with some kind of dark secret. I couldn’t find anything different, or anything that I wanted to read, so I decided to write it myself. I don’t know if there was one particular idea that started off the story, but there are definitely aspects of the book that have been there from the beginning. For example, the setting is on the north-east coast of England, which is where I spent every summer holiday, and the main characters are still at school, which is the level I was at when I wrote it. I don’t know where the main plot of a race descended from gods came from, but it definitely wasn’t the original idea! It’s evolved so much over the years that very little of the original plot is still there – although the main character, Lola, has remained the same throughout.

In the world of A False Creation, people can be born with certain Gifts, such as the Gift of prophecy, or shapeshifting. Which Gift would you most like to have and why?

I think Shapeshifting could be useful. You could disguise yourself whenever you wanted, and if you were small for a ride at a theme park, for example, you could make yourself tall enough. Saying that, it could be quite useful to be able to make prophecies, even if it was just for being ablet o predict the weather correctly.

The end of the novel is left quite open. Do you have plans for a sequel and, if so, can you give us a sneak peak of what might be to come?

I’d love to write a sequel. The story of A False Creation has always been longer than the length of one book in my head, so a sequel wouldn’t feel like an add-on; there’s definitely a lot more that I want to write about. If/when the sequel does happen, then it would be about where the characters go after the events of the first book. Without giving too much away, several characters are left with decisions to make in the final scenes, and so book two would follow the stories that come after they have decided what to do. The Guard, who are a group important to the main plot, are mostly shown as a national organisation in the first book, but there are hints about their international relations throughout. The second book would show much more of the global impact of their work rather than just in England.

What would your dream cast be, if A False Creation were to be turned into a movie?

I don’t know! The main characters are only sixteen years old, and I don’t know many actors who play that kind of age group – but it would have to be someone quite feisty and passionate for the main characters.

You wrote and submitted the novel for publication whilst still studying at college. How did you juggle your studies with writing and editing?

With a lot of planning. I would use different times of the day to decide on which work I was going to focus on. While I was at school, I would do lesson work; when I got home, before dinner I would do coursework, and after dinner I would do writing and editing. There was a lot to fit in, but I think I just about managed it.

Which books/authors have most inspired you?

I grew up reading the Harry Potter series, which was probably the main inspiration for wanting to be a writer. JK Rowling was able to create this entire world and yet still manage to make it fit with the one we live in, and that’s something I’ve always ended up doing in my own writing. She was able to make all these stories of witches and wizards entirely believable and realistic enough that you don’t even question it when you’re reading it. I always admired that.

What advice would you give to any young aspiring authors?

Just write! Find something that interests you, and write about it. You don’t have to show anyone straight away; just write (or type) some scenes, or pieces of dialogue, and see where it takes you. If you want to write something, but don’t feel like you have any ideas, there are thousands of dialogue prompts, or scene prompts, online. Choose something that you care about, or that you would want to read about. Make yourself interested.