Allison Agius runs her own complementary health business and is celebrating the publication of her first novel. But it's a long way from her humble beginnings she tells Lindsay Jennings.

ALLISON Agius was three months into her A-level course when her teacher asked to see her after class.

The eldest of five children brought up on Skerne Park estate, in Darlington, it had been a struggle for Allison to reach the point of further education and not follow some of her peers into a life of little prospects.

Her father had left the family when she was five. She had to work hard at her A-levels to make up for the gaps in her education, having taken days and days off school to stay at home and look after her mother, who had emotional problems.

So, when her teacher asked to see her after class, she thought he was going to praise her hard work, encourage her to keep going.

"What he actually said was 'do you really think you belong here'?" says Allison with a wry smile. "He said 'I think you're wasting your time'. I was absolutely mortified."

Allison ended up dropping the A-level, but the stinging words stuck with her. Nonetheless Allison, now 40, has proved her teacher wrong, that she was far from wasting her time.

Straight after school, Allison moved to London to start work on a management training programme for MFI and eventually became a buyer with the company and gained a degree. But any spare time she found, she would write fiction.

She moved back to Darlington with partner Ian after discovering she was pregnant with daughter Suzy, now 14. The couple had another child, Jake, 11, and Allison set up an alternative therapy and stress management business, eventually running her own therapy centre. Today, she is a Reiki teacher and runs The Natural Healing Agency in Darlington. She also works in project management.

Her writing has been a constant in her life. The first book she had published, in 2002, was a self-help book entitled Hidden Secrets, Buried Treasure. By that time, she had written four unpublished novels which were tucked away in a drawer. But with her fifth novel, she felt she had something a little special.

Treading Water is about a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage and her battle with alcoholism. She reassesses her life with the help of a woman who moves in next door.

"The main theme is about the social masks we put on to be who we think we should be," says Allison. "We have this life where we think everyone else has got it sorted and I know from my own experiences that the majority of people are quite the reverse and that most of us are seeking happiness and just want to be loved.

"It's also about female friendship. As I've got older my female friends have become so much more important and I get a lot of strength from them".

Allison received 18 rejection letters from agents and publishers before sending her manuscript to US firm Publish America. To her delight, she received an email back saying she had been accepted.

When the book finally came through she had a huge sense of achievement.

"I opened the box with the kids around the kitchen table," she says. "The kids have watched me their whole lives writing away, pursuing this relentless dream. They'd seen me go off on courses. I think for me one of the biggest kicks was what an example it was to give to your kids - not to give up on your dreams, to keep going despite what people may say."

She has dedicated the book to her former partner Ian, with whom she is still good friends.

"He has been a huge source of inspiration and very supportive," she says. "I think any partner of a struggling writer deserves to get a mention."

Her second book is about a woman who can hear other people's thoughts, and ends up hearing the thoughts of a man who has taken an unhealthy interest in a young girl, only for the girl to later disappear. She is hoping to secure a deal with a UK publisher this time.

Last week, she signed copies of Treading Water at the library in Darlington - a place which was a second home to her once.

"We didn't have central heating and I couldn't do my homework at home with the television on and the noise and everything so I used to go to the library," she says. "I used to love all the books."

She's fully aware too that her life could have taken a different path had she followed the disparaging words of her teacher.

"I think the only reason I sometimes think of the time at sixth form is that I wish I'd been braver and challenged him," she says. "But there's a part of me that really enjoys being a published writer despite not having a decent education. Roddy Doyle was one of the writers who made me think maybe I don't have to be posh, and his stuff is all about a rough childhood. I also think that you have to hold onto your dreams".

* Treading Water by Allison Agius (Publish America, £12.50. Available on Amazon) .