LYN Friend, from Barnstaple, has taken first prize in the Walter Henry's Bookshop Short Story Competition.

The competition challenged writers to create a story on the theme of beach huts.

Lyn's winning entry is a tense confessional tale told by a young character wrecked by the burden of dark family secrets.

Lyn, who has been a librarian at Pilton Community College for 19 years, wrote the story spontaneously one night and after receiving encouragement from colleagues at work, decided to send it in for the contest, which was hosted by Walter Henry's of Bideford.

Although always interested in the idea of writing fiction, The Beach Hut is her first attempt at creating a short story.

One of Lyn's main motivations was an encounter with North Devon-based author Veronica Henry, who she saw perform a live reading.

She said: "Veronica was inspirational and eloquent. It was brilliant."

When asked about the nature of The Beach Hut, Lyn admitted: "I could write a happy ending but people don't always want that. If it's a happy ending it gets a bit boring!"

She deliberately crafted an ambiguous finale in an attempt at forcing her readers to make their own mind up about whether the ending is a positive or negative one.

After her success in the Walter Henry's Bookshop competition, Lyn has vowed to continue writing throughout the summer and beyond.

She takes influences from any type of literature she comes across and is a self confessed bookworm, a crucial trait that helps her imagination and her job.

She said "I'll read anything and everything. I can't recommend a book if I haven't read it!"

Even though her family were a little shocked by the intense atmosphere of The Beach Hut, Lyn is adamant that every good story needs to involve some juicy, shock inspiring drama.

Walter Henry's Bookshop ran the short story competition to coincide with the new release of Veronica Henry's latest novel The Beach Hut, published by Orion.

Lyn, along with runners-up Richard Westcott and Jennifer Bohnet, will receive signed copies of The Beach Hut, a selection of summer bestsellers from Orion and Walter Henry's book tokens.