Bestselling novelist Audrey Niffenegger to work on ballet

The author of the bestselling novel The Time Traveller's Wife is to write a new work for the Royal Ballet next season.

Audrey Niffenegger, who has also worked as an artist and graphic novelist, is to collaborate with the company's resident choreographer Wayne McGregor.

Raven Girl was yesterday described by Kevin O'Hare, the Royal Ballet's incoming artistic director, as a "modern twist on a fairytale" although there were no further details given about the work, which will premiere next year.

The Time Traveller's Wife sold millions of copies worldwide following its publication in 2003 and was adapted into a film six years later. The competition for her second work saw publisher Charles Scribner's Sons pay an advance of $5m (£3m) for Her Fearful Symmetry, set in Highgate Cemetery.

This was part of what Mr O'Hare, who will be installed as artistic directed in August, called his "fantasy season" for 2012/2013 at the Royal Ballet, which includes six premieres as well as traditional works such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.