A RETIRED English teacher who published her first book last year has since been taken on a journey through the publishing world - and is now proud to say she’s finished her first trilogy.

‘When the Devil is Paid’, the third book in Chrissie Yates’ Penton trilogy, follows a group of friends exploring the criminal underworld within a fictionalised version of her hometown of Penistone.

Published by WandS Books, the series became much more popular than Chrissie could’ve imagined when she began writing during the Covid lockdown, and she has been stopped regularly while out shopping by fans desperate to know when this final chapter will be released.

“I started the first book during lockdown,” she told the Chronicle.

“I’d retired from teaching and was going mad without anything to do - I really do think that if I hadn’t started writing I would have spiralled into someone I don’t recognise anymore.

“So I thought I was being clever and left book one on a cliff-hanger, but what I didn’t realise is that people would want to know what happens next.

“The second book launched in February and for about the last eight months I’ve been obsessed with this final one.”

Chrissie has sold hundreds of copies of her books and made fans globally with people reaching out to her from Australia and Boston Massachusetts, a fact she’s incredibly proud of considering she lacks the backing of major national publishers.

“I’ve been invited to do talks at libraries and appeared at the Barnsley Book Festival in March,” she added.

“There’s also been women’s institutes who’ve reached out - people will come and talk to me and if it lights the spark in someone who thinks they have a book in them that would be great.”