AN author has returned to Ryedale to relaunch her book.

Yasmin Butt’s novel, Gunshot Glitter, tells the story of an incinerated boy who never quite goes away and uses Pickering as the home town for the Griffin family, who play a huge part in the book.

Londoner Yasmin fell in love with Ryedale when she first visited 10 years ago, so much so that she decided to base the characters there when she wrote Gunshot Glitter.

She said returning to the area a decade later only confirmed her decision to base the novel there.

She said: “I thought the area was amazing and I was blown away by how natural and relaxing it felt.

“I am a real London girl and it just felt as though nothing horrible could happen to anyone from here because it’s such a beautiful area.

“I thought Pickering was especially beautiful and a great place to raise a family.”

The book was released as an e-book three years ago before the print edition was released on Yasmin’s birthday in 2013.

However, what should have been one of the best days of her life turned into a nightmare for the author who had suffered a severe anaphylaxis shock for the first time.

Returning to the area now, Yasmin, who has had to undergo cognitive behaviour therapy to help her get over panic attacks, is preparing for a mini re-launch.

She said: “It took me a long time to disassociate the book with my near death and I wanted to show the book to the whole world, but I couldn’t get past that it was linked to that.

“Now I want to show everyone how special this book is. It’s the kind of book that makes you miss the characters and makes you question everything you thought about right and wrong, good and bad.”

Gunshot Glitter will be released in November. She is also in the process of writing a prequel to the book.