AUTHOR Beth Reekles is having her first book made for TV by online giant Netflix.

The 22-year-old, who now works for a Swindon energy multi-national, wrote The Kissing Booth when she was just 15.

The romantic novel, which is aimed at a teenage audience, has been turned into a feature-length film and will debut on the online streaming service Netflix next month.

It stars Breakfast Club actress Molly Ringwald and Joey King, who acted opposite Hugh Laurie in 2010 children’s film Ramona and Beezus.

The Kissing Booth follows the fortunes of 16-year-old Rochelle Evans, who inadvertently falls for her best friend’s older brother after snogging him in a high school kissing booth.

As a teenager Beth uploaded the novel to writing website Wattpad, where it attracted millions of views and won the youngster a publishing deal.

Now with three more books under her belt, Beth told the Swindon Advertiser she was looking forward to watching her novel played out on the TV.

“It was absolutely phenomenal,” she said of the moment she was told her book would be turned into a film. “I originally posted the book online and people used to say it should be a movie. I laughed them all off and thought it was never going to happen.

“Now it is and it’s coming to Netflix, which is huge.

“The writers have made some changes to the story, but they were all quite minor. I think it’s stayed very true to the characters in my story.”

Beth visited the set of the film in South Africa last year and said it was magical to watch her novel being acted out.

She has always had stories in her head, she said. Her parents bought her a laptop when she was 11 years old.

“It’s just something I have always done. I used to love writing novels when I was at primary school. It’s one of those things I can’t imagine myself ever not doing.”

Beth, who lives in Blunsdon, now works in IT on a graduate scheme at the energy firm.

Few of her colleagues know that she’s a published writer, although some have found out. With the Netflix film, for which she was paid a five-figure sum, now in her portfolio, her talent for writing is unlikely to be something she can keep hidden for long.

She says she is working on a young adult romance novel, as well as something a little bit different.

The Kissing Booth is due to be released on May 11.