A Devon girl has "defied the odds" to write and illustrate a children's book which is raising money for a national epilepsy charity.
Katherine Curtis, 12, from Okehampton, who suffers from the condition, has sold hundreds of copies of Herbie the Horse goes on Holiday since it was published in August.
The book is the result of a vivid imagination as the Okehampton Community College pupil has long been telling tales about a horse's unusual adventures, her mother Anna said.
Mrs Curtis said: "The stories are not bound by the restraints of 'normal' people's thought processes and we are immensely proud."
Katherine developed epilepsy aged five and although it has hampered her academic progress, it has not prevented her from coming up with a children's story "which seems to be going down well".
The book sees Herbie and his equine friends leave the farm on which they live to go on holiday, which leads to them enjoying dips in swimming pools and helicopter rides.
Mrs Curtis, who is married to Jeremy and also has a 15-year-old son, Edward, described the tale as "completely bizarre" but the sequel sees Herbie attempt to save polar bears from global warming.
She said: "Katherine has always loved horses and has produced this book against the odds and it seems to be going down well.
"She is intelligent but she got epilepsy at five years old and up to then she developed normally, but she has not progressed much since.
"The ideas are there, she knows what she wants to say and she has got the vocabulary, but it is just getting them down which she struggles with.
"But she has a real imagination and her stories are completely bizarre."
Katherine has been using a computer which has allowed her to write the stories in her own time.
"She can't sit down in one sitting so she has been going back to it over and over again and unfortunately school doesn't allow that constant repetition," said Mrs Curtis.
The story was eventually written as a book by Katherine as a home-based activity which later impressed family friend and children's author, George Pritchard.
Mrs Curtis said: "She decided to make the book as an activity at home and this author [Mr Pritchard] came along and showed her a book he had written.
"He decided that hers was a fantastic story, and it went from there."
A total of 10% of sales are being donated to Epilepsy Action.
