A REGULAR visitor to Ceredigion has turned her love of the county in to a debut novel.

Alice Smithers, who lives in Hereford but spends long weekends and holidays here, has set her first book, Sea Green, in a number of locations throughout the county.

Although Alice and Georgia, the main character of the book, are both originally from Birmingham and share a love of Ceredigion, the author insists Sea Green is a work of fiction.

“It’s not biographical but I have drawn on my experiences,” she said.

“There are lots of similarities but the main character is not me.

“I love this area, and so does Georgia, but she’s not really in tune with it and gets a bit of a culture shock. A small seaside town is very different to Birmingham. The book is about her getting used to the area and the people.”

She went on: “Although the book is based in mid Wales - Llangrannog, Lampeter, Aberystwyth and the general surrounding areas - I have substituted some of the place names in the book.

“I’ve done that just to distance the real places and the real people from those in the book. There’s nothing horrible in it, but I wouldn’t want anyone to think it was about them.”

Despite the changes, Alice says people will recognise the various locations.

“Readers will definitely know the locations,” Alice said.

“Aberystwyth is very detailed, and Georgia moves to a place I’ve modelled on Llangrannog but given a different name to, but I think people will still recognise it.”

And the Cambrian News also makes an appearance.

“There’s a character in the book, called Mitch, who works as a freelance writer for the Cambrian News,” Alice explained. “He helps Georgia research her family history.”

Another feature of the novel is the winter storm of 2013 and how that affected everyone in the area.

Set against the backdrop of the stormy Welsh winter, Sea Green is a cosy, heart-warming and funny story of what happens when you get a second chance at life.

Sea Green is published on 11 February, price £6.99.