SHE many only be a teenager but Johanna Mercer is already establishing herself as a popular author.

The 16-year-old from Bickershaw Village, near Rivington, has had her second novel published — after winning rave reviews for her first book last year.

Death By Your Beloved: Be Afraid of the Dark is the sequel to her debut novel Demon Rose.

Her first book, which came out in January 2013, received a number of five-star reviews on Amazon — with some waiting excitedly for the next instalment.

Johanna, a pupil at Bolton School, said: "I think it’s good that people are reading and enjoying the books.

"I originally did it for myself, as a personal thing, just because I love writing.

"The idea of people reading and enjoying it is really motivating — it makes me want to write more.

"It comes really naturally to me. I just create the story as I write.

"I have to do some editing, obviously, but mostly it just works.”

The first book ends with Jenny Westwood, the main character, running away with her friends desperately looking for her.

The book picks up where the first book left off, continuing the story of Jenny and her friends, which was initially inspired by Johanna’s dreams.

In the first book Jenny finds a rose on her front porch which leads her into a “dangerous and deadly life”.

The synopsis of the second book reads: “When George died Jenny ran away. Jenny's friends try to find out where she is, they also suspect George may still be alive.

"Whilst trying to solve this seemingly never ending problem, someone from Jenny's past life suddenly appears at their doorstep to try and warn her of the danger that is coming. Will Jenny come out of this alive, or will her past life haunt her yet again?”

Since publishing her second book on Kindle, Johanna — who also has ambitions to become a lawyer — has already started work on the final instalment in the trilogy, finding time to write in between her GCSE studies.

Future plans include penning an additional three stand-alone novels and a book of poetry, which she also hopes to self-publish through Amazon.

She is also collaborating on another novel with one of her friends.

Demon Rose and Death By Your Beloved: Be Afraid of the Dark are both available on Amazon’s Kindle Store now.