Author creates a body of work

An author has found a new way to bring her stories to life.

Rather than publish her latest short story on paper, Shelley Jackson wants to tattoo each word on a different person.

The idea has already attracted 1,000 volunteers - half the number needed - to have words inscribed on heads, arms, legs and even their backsides. Those tattooed will receive a copy of the complete story on paper to find out where they fit in.

The 40-year-old New Yorker said: 'Most of them are in their midtolate 20s so I will probably die before a lot of them. 'Can you imagine if they turned up at my funeral - an author mourned by her words.' Although Ms Jackson's last published work, The Melancholy of Anatomy, was quite explicit, she has decided to tone things down for her latest project.