When an A-level student from Cardigan was asked to come up with a cover design for her mum’s new book, she never imagined it would lead to her getting work from a book publisher, but that’s exactly what happened to Lia Storm.

Local author and mum to Lia, Kittie Belltree, asked her daughter to bring her book to life with her distinctive illustration skills.

Lia, who studies A-level art, drama and English at Pembrokeshire College has always had a keen interest in art and often draws in her spare time.

“I love being creative and have always doodled, however over the past few years I have taken my skills further by producing digital illustrations,” Lia said.

The book, Sliced Tongue and Pearl Cufflinks written by Kittie, explores broken connections of self, family and home.

Lia was asked by her mum to design the front cover and began generating ideas back in April. Lia used the internet to create a mood board for ideas and worked alongside her mum on a design.

Parthian Books published the book in October 2019 and were so blown away by Lia’s creative skills they immediately approached her to design the cover of another book, a collection of short poems called Heartland, which was also published in October 2019.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now