A former Advertiser journalist who swapped news for novels has realised a childhood dream with the publication of her first book.

Chloë Mayer, who left the paper four years ago, said she was so delighted to see her debut in Waterstones that she nearly burst into tears.

Her novel, a dark tale of tragedy and murder called The Boy Made of Snow, came out on Thursday and has already received glowing reviews from several newspapers, including The Times.

The Boy Made of Snow is set in a sleepy English village in 1944, and revolves around a mother and her nine-year-old son who befriend a German prisoner of war.

But the child loses his grip on reality as he becomes dangerously obsessed with fairytales, and one day he tells a lie that has devastating consequences.

Chloë said: “This past week has been completely bonkers. The book has been published in the UK, Australia, and Poland so far.

“This has been my dream since I was little, so it feels really surreal - I think I’m in shock.

“I was in Piccadilly Circus on Friday and popped into Waterstones. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my novel displayed on a table alongside books by ‘real’ authors.

“It was so overwhelming that I welled up and was struggling not to cry in front of the other customers and staff!”

The 37-year-old, of Wanstead, was one of two news editors jointly overseeing the Advertiser and its sister titles throughout 2013.

She said: “I really enjoyed it. East London’s a great patch and my colleagues were lovely.

“But I was writing my novel simultaneously and eventually decided to leave to devote more time to it.”

Chloë now combines freelance journalism for national papers with writing her second book.

The Boy Made of Snow is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and is available in hardback, audio and e-book formats.

For more information or to purchase the book, visit chloemayerauthor.com