Author Josephine earns more than model Naomi!

Blackburn-born Josephine Cox, 59, was placed higher than supermodel Naomi Campbell, actress Maggie Smith and comedienne Jennifer Saunders in the all-female rich list, published yesterday.

She is ranked number 90 in the list, and is said to have earned £1.07million in the last 12 months, during which she released her 29th novel, Bad Boy Jack.

Josephine is the UK's biggest-selling living saga writer.

She writes two novels every year and her work has been translated into many languages, including French, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

Her first novel was published in 1987.

Josephine grew up in Blackburn in a terraced house in Derwent Street, and was then known as Josephine Brindle.

Her career as an author has enabled her to have homes in Buckinghamshire and Cyprus, but she says she will never forget how her storytelling began -- as a youngster charging her peers a penny to listen to her tales.

She said: "It was for my mam. I would do anything to help her because she was so downtrodden and yet she never complained." Although she often slept six to a bed at home and often faced hardship and hunger as a child, she insists her childhood was a happy one.

She attended Blackburn's St Anne's RC Primary School as a child, where her story-writing was supported by a teacher she has never forgotten.

Josephine said: "My teacher Miss Jackson was a very small lady with white hair. She was very prim and proper but you did not dare go against her. She was brilliant and had a huge influence on my life. I will never forget the things she taught me about language and the art of story telling."

Josephine left Blackburn at the age of 13 when her mother took them to live with an aunt in Dunstable.

She is now a married mother-of-two.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling topped the female earning list this year, with £48million.

Madonna came second having earned £27million. The Queen was 11th with £7.68million in the survey by the Mail on Sunday.