It is the story of Peter, a Cambridge geography don, who crashes his car into a tree when swerving to avoid a cat, and Mina, the girl at the Sheffield call centre who deals with his insurance claim. Both Peter and Mina are single parents and the book tracks their parallel lives. It's a good old-fashioned fairy tale of love across the class divide, but it's also a book about the small joys and tribulations of parenthood, symmetry and coincidence, and the events that both separate and bring people together.

Crossed Wires follows More than Love Letters, published in 2007, and Hearts and Minds, published earlier this. But Rosy, who's better known within the Colony as Geographer, isn't one for resting upon her laurels - she's already completed the first draft of the as-yet-untitled book four.

Given that Rosy only began writing fiction three years ago, her success should be an inspiration to all writers looking to make a breakthrough, and she's points to Litopia as the source of much of her own inspiration.

"Litopia has been great," said Rosy. "I've done quite a bit of critiquing and also read people's work and other people's crits of it, comparing what they picked out with what I noticed - I think I've learned a lot that way.

"And the general discussion of the writing craft, in Cafe Life and Cafe Grande, is as invaluable as it is fascinating. You could say, I guess, that I'm still very much a rookie - I only began writing fiction at all in 2005, so I still have a huge amount to learn - and Litopia is not only very friendly and supportive and fun, but also an amazing place to learn and pick up tips and suggestions from other writers at all stages in their careers, not to mention the advice given by editors and, of course, agent Peter Cox."

More information on Rosy and her books is available from www.rosythornton.com