FOR Nikki Mason, books offer more than a good read.

The 29-year-old from Ilkley admits reading and writing has helped her through the toughest time in her life.

From the age of 16, Nikki struggled with anorexia. She says aside from the pressures most teenagers face during adolescence, her problems were exacerbated during her university days.

Nikki was 25 when the condition finally took its toll. “I was still functioning but it was a problem,” she recalls.

She’d always loved reading and writing. Growing up in Ilkley, the town’s rolling green landscape and iconic Cow and Calf rocks inspired Nikki’s writing ability which she honed through her journalism masters degree.

Eventually she went to London, pursuing her career with national women’s magazines. It was her illness which brought Nikki back to her roots and introduced her to her pals with whom she is now running a successful business supporting independent authors.

“I was an in-patient in hospital for quite a long time and the only thing which kept me going was my reading,” says Nikki.

Writing book reviews while in hospital, Nikki made friends with two other girls. Together they launched Candlelit Author Services last year which is responding to the growing demand of self-publishing and the popularity of e-books.

The business has grown from affiliated sites: BestChickLit.com and BestChapLit.com and the team specialises in various areas of the industry.

Working with independent authors, editing and marketing is all part of the service which has brought another dimension to Nikki’s writing career and, combined with her love of books, has helped in her recovery.

Another confidence boost for Nikki is her involvement in the HitLitPro Anthology – HitLitPro is an organisation promoting the work of independent female fiction writers that Nikki and her writing pals have been involved with to help raise cash for charity during the fundraising month of Movember.

November is now a recognised month to raise money and awareness about men’s health – prostate cancer in particular.

To help raise the profile, and also boost funds for the worthy cause, the women decided to use their writing skills to create nine short stories celebrating what the men in their lives mean to them.

Nikki explains the book, which took about two months to compile, is particularly pertinent to them as the husband of one of the women involved is fighting testicular cancer.

Let’s Hear it for the Boys was published in November as a paperback and e-book and Nikki was delighted her short story was selected too.

“We got some really nice responses and really good reviews,” she says.

Being involved in the project, and also chatting with authors about their books through Candlelit Author Services, has helped Nikki regain her confidence and self-esteem.

“You don’t need this crutch, you don’t need to define yourself by being the thinnest person in the room or what you are putting into your body.”

She says it is more about “enjoying your life and getting out there”. “It is having confidence in yourself because I think a lot of people with eating disorders lack self-esteem,” Nikki explains.

Her love of reading has also helped her through and far from feeling old fashioned by admitting to thumbing through instead of reading online, as many book worms now do, Nikki remains a fan of page-turning tomes.

“There is something tangible and for me a lot of ‘never judge a book by its cover’ I do. The smell of it, the feel of it and when on the train you can see other people reading a book and think ‘I’ve read that.’”

Through her own experience, Nikki is eager for mental health to be acknowledged.

“I find it appalling the lack of knowledge there is about mental health generally and I know so many people suffering and not getting the help they need.

“It is really, really sad that people do not talk more about it and it isn’t something to be ashamed of. It is an illness.”

Nikki also believes more money should be available to fund mental health services. “I think more money should be put into mental health services, especially with cuts to the NHS. It saved my life.”

For more information about Let’s Hear it for the Boys, visit smarturl.it/LetsHearItForThe Boys.

l Launched 25 years ago, Beat (Beating Eating Disorders) is the UK’s leading charity supporting anyone affected by eating disorders or difficulties with food, weight or shape.

Eating disorders are a group of illnesses defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as being those in which the sufferer experiences a preoccupation with body weight and shape which disturbs their everyday diet and attitude towards food.

Unusually, compared with other mental health issues, eating disorders result in both physical and psychological symptoms and can have long term side effects including organ failure.

More than 1.6 million men and women of all ages and backgrounds in the UK are affected by eating disorders.

Eating disorders claim more lives than any other mental illness – one in five of the most seriously affected will die prematurely from the physical consequences or suicide.

Eating disorders are complex and there is no one single cause why someone develops an eating disorder. A whole range of different factors combine such as genetic, psychological, environmental, social and biological influences.

For details, visit b-eat.co.uk. For the adult helpline, call 0845 634 1414. For the youth helpline, call 0845 634 7650.