Kaneana May has always loved words.
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As a youngster growing up in Old Bar on the lower Mid-North Coast she often had her head buried in a book.
Her favourite series were Ann Martin's 'The Baby-sitters Club' and then Francine Pascal's 'Sweet Valley High'.
During her third year of university, she did an internship at the popular television series Home and Away.
"I fell in love with the story room and knew that I wanted to spend my days surrounded by characters and plots," Ms May said.
She honed her story writing skills as a storyliner on the TV show Headland straight after university.
"It was honestly like landing the dream job," she said.
"Days were spent talking about character development and story arcs.
"After this I went on to work in the script department of All Saints and then Home and Away.
"I was living and breathing Summer Bay and it was a very happy place for me to be."
She soon started dabbling in her own fiction pieces.
But it would be 15 long years before she had anything published.
Her short story 'Living Rose' was published in the Underdog Anthology in March 2019 and now her first novel 'The One' has just hit bookshops.
'The One' centres around a reality TV dating show.
The story intertwines the lives of three women: a producer, a contestant and an occasional viewer in their pursuit to not only find themselves, but their happily-ever-afters along the way.
The book is a dream come true for Ms May who has returned to Old Bar with her husband and three children.
"Writing makes me feel happy, so I envisage a very contented life if I get to spend days with my characters and my laptop," she said.
Kaneana May will be speaking at Port Macquarie Library at 10.00am on Saturday August 31.
The event is free but registrations are required.
