Hollywood studio considers Moreton author's book for film (From Thisisdorset)

Hollywood studio considers Moreton author's book for film

3:00pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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A MORETON author is hoping to take a leaf out of her own book and see her dream of a film version of her children’s novel come true.

Chantel Coles has suffered plenty of her own real-life drama after seeing her debut children’s novel Valentina: Lisa’s Dream Come True published.

In the space of a few weeks she lost her mum, her ex-husband and a friend to cancer.

But mum-of-two Chantel, 49, has been offered fresh hope after hearing that her work – about an 11-year-old girl with a dream to own a horse – has been submitted to a major Hollywood film studio for consideration.

DreamWorks Studio is considering the book for a film after it was contacted by Chantel’s publishers Publish-America.

“I hope my mum is looking down on me and is proud of me.

“It’s an enormous achievement to have a book published – and to have a film made on top of that would be the icing on the cake,” Chantel said.

Chantel’s mum Za-Za lost her battle with stomach and pancreatic cancer on February 12.

Valentina’s original illustrator and Chantel’s friend, Gerry Cooper, and her ex-husband Juan Antonio also died around the same time from respective stomach and lung cancers.

“I struggled to get up at first every day and I developed a phobia about funerals.

“In the end I wanted to do something positive and have decided to run the Race for Life for all three of them.

“Once I get over my grief a bit more I’m going to write a sequel to Valentina and I’m going to dedicate it to the people I’ve lost and hope to give some of the profits to Cancer Research,” Chantel said.

Horse lover Chantel, who hails from Sussex, moved to Dorset four years ago after living in Spain. She now runs an online company that specialises in buying Spanish horses for riders.

The book is available from the Dorch-ester branch of Waterstone’s and from online retailer Amazon for £8.