EVERY day Fiona Winter and her bearded collie, Yogi Bear, join a group of local dog walkers for some fresh air, exercise and a bit of a chin-wag.

United by their love of dogs, they have become firm friends and look out for each other.

Now Fiona, of Wyke, has written a book, called A Lead to Love, inspired by the dog-walking group. After sending her manuscript to various publishers she quickly landed a deal, despite having no agent.

What makes her success even more remarkable is that she is dyslexic and she wrote her novel while juggling a demanding job as an offender co-ordinator at a hostel where she began working after graduating, as a mum-of-three, with a degree in psychology and forensics.

This weekend Fiona, 45, will be signing copies of her book in Waterstones in Bradford, and she's already working on a sequel.

Described as a "modern romance," A Lead to Love is set in a dog walking club formed by central character Jess, who is unexpectedly lumbered with her grandmother's new puppy, an Old English Sheepdog called Elvis.

"She gets involved with a group of people, of various ages and backgrounds. Some are widowed, some are divorced. They all come together to walk their dogs," says Fiona. "Jess starts putting together profiles of them according to what dog they have.

"A few of us walk our dogs together in the park. It's not always safe for people to walk dogs on their own; walking our dogs together is good company and we've made some great friendships."

Since Fiona began writing her book, the dog-walking group has evolved and is now called the K9 and Co Club. It is currently operating in the Wyke area and may expand if there is enough interest.

In examining the connections between the various dog-walkers in her book, Fiona draws on her psychology background to comment on the human condition, and in particular relationships between the sexes. "It's about friendship and support, and the assumptions people make about others," she says.

It was while studying at the University of Bradford that Fiona was encouraged to take up writing. "When I was at school, teachers used to tell me I could write but when I left school I started working and became a young parent, and life just got in the way," she says.

After working as an offender manager in Leeds, Fiona worked at Bradford's Cyrenians hostel and the Blenheim Project for homeless young families,

then when she went to university as a mature student she fitted her studies in around working for Victim Support as a victim care officer.

"It was tough but I have always found my work rewarding," she says. "When I was an offender manager I did assessments in prisons and co-ordinated the care and rehabilitation of people after prison, which involved them adhering to drugs programmes.

"It was after I graduated that I had coffee with my dyslexia tutor who suggested I should explore writing as a career," adds Fiona. "Once she had put the notion to me I thought I'd write a book. I didn't know if I'd be any good, so I just sat down and gave it a go.

"I had a story in my head but it just evolved as I wrote it. I wanted it to be a comedy, with northern humour."

After university Fiona returned to work at the Cyrenians hostel as an offender co-ordinator, part of a drugs intervention programme, but is now focusing on her writing career. "I was working with Cyrenians while I wrote my novel. I wrote 1,000 words here and there, I had to fit it all in among working and being a single mum."

She adds: "I sent the book out to various publishers and Austin Macauley contacted me to say they were interested. The week after, another publisher got in touch as well!

"It was March 2015 when I signed the publishing contract with Austin Macauley, then it went into production and was published in December.

"It's very exciting to have a published novel. It's being released in America next year! I've had some great feedback about the book; people have asked if it was based on a real dog-walking group. I've got my first book signing this weekend, I'll be there with Yogi Bear."

Now Fiona is working on a sequel. "It'll probably be the same kind of northern humour, in a chick lit style," she says.

* A Lead to Love is published by Austin Macauley, priced £6.99. Fiona will be signing copies of her book at Waterstones in Bradford on Saturday between 11am and 3pm.