A MONMOUTH author is rubbing shoulders with bestselling authors in the short listed for a national literary award.

Julia Gregson, 61, has interviewed Mick Jagger, worked as a top model and a cowgirl in the Australian outback, and now she’s been named one of six authors in the running for the Romantic Novel of the Year 2009.

East of the Sun , which made Richard and Judy’s 2008 summer read list, tells the story of three young girls who travel to India in the 1920s.

Readers nominating the novel described it as “thought-provoking, rich and engaging with a real sense of place.”

Organised by the Romantic Novelist’s Association, the judges have whittled down the final six from a total of 156 entries.

Other author’s on the list include Cecelia Ahern, Lesley Downer, Linda Gillard, Susanna Kearsley and Judith Lennox.

Mrs Gregson said: “Writing the book was a mixture of terror and excitement, not knowing from day to day whether it was working out or not. You never start out writing a book thinking it is going to be a bestseller but it is a thrilling thing when it does happen. I am delighted and honoured to be short-listed for the RNA prize.”

The winner will be announced at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington on February 10.