NORWICH – A lifetime of reading, writing and a vivid imagination has paid off for local author Nicole Wake, who has reason to celebrate as the characters she developed have come to life with the recent publication of her first novel.

Wake’s fictional novel, “A Rose from Beneath,” tells the story of young 17-year-old Kayley, who amidst the hardships of adolescence, also dabbles in witchcraft and wants nothing more than for real powers in the practice of black magic. Upon wishing for someone who can provide her with a sense of real witchcraft, Kayley meets Julie, a California native who’s forced to rekindle her magical abilities to save the world from destruction by an evil coven that took her brother’s life.

“I feel a lot of love stories are a same in the sense,” said Wake in describing some of the young adult themes of her novel. “It’s hard to come up with something new; I wanted something more complex.”

Wake, a Norwich High School alumni, graduated from Oneonta State University with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition in 2009 and more recently has earned an advanced degree in nutrition. “A profession in nutrition seemed more practical than writing,” she said. However, “writing has always been my passion,” she added.