A RETIRED GP has fulfilled a lifetime ambition after swapping her stethoscope to embark on a new career as an author.

Carol Tetlow, of Bedale, has had her first book published and while it’s taken nearly seven years to get it into print, amid many disappointments and rejections, she says it was worth it.

She is hoping five other books she has written will make it to the bookshelves.

Her novel Out Of Practice is set against a backdrop of a doctors practice in the fictitious market town of Lambdale, based on Masham.

It tells the story of one doctor and what happens when her professional and personal lives start to fall apart.

Carol worked as a GP under her maiden name of Dr Goodman in a Harrogate practice, and while none of it is based on real people or events she was inspired by her work.

“It is an environment where you see so many aspects of human life, and that is my background”, said Mrs Tetlow. “But it really was a nightmare to get accepted by a publisher, I had two literary agents, one of whom went off to Botswana to run a school because he couldn’t cope with the publishing world.

“The number of times I said I was giving up is unbelievable, it was such a hard slog", she added.

Eventually a French Canadian company, Editions Dedicaces, offered her a contract to publish the book through the US.

It is now available on Kindle and as a paperback and she has a book signing at Waterstones in Harrogate on October 18.

“I really can’t believe it, it’s absolutely wonderful.

"It is something I had always wanted to do since I was at school, I did work really hard, but it is such a difficult business now.

"However, I am a great believer that if you really want something you shouldn’t give up,” she added.

She’s now hoping three other books in the Out Of Practice series and two other books she’s written will also be published, and she’s determined to do more.

The 59-year-old, who retired in the summer, is also the Supreme British Donkey Driving Champion with eleven donkeys, four dogs, two cats and a long suffering husband.

She said: “I did think once I retired I would have more time, but that’s not how it’s working out.

"However, once the winter comes I will be doing more, there are so many stories, and we still have books to be published."