Annabelle Vassallo does not look like she is dying. Her infectious smile makes you look beyond her cancer-hinting shaved head and her courageous words are not those of someone who only has a short time to live.

But last December, after 28 cycles of chemotherapy, the 38-year-old was told that there was no more hope of treating the aggressive tumour in her neck, that has now spread through her body.

"My lungs are full of cancer, which has touched my liver, head. It is attacking everywhere," she said.

However, even as she talks about the disease that is robbing her of her life, Ms Vassallo keeps smiling and talks about the things she still has to do before she dies.

One of her dreams, to write a book, has just come true and Ms Vassallo's eyes twinkled with excitement as she spoke to a packed hall at the book launch yesterday afternoon.

The book, Irrid Ngħix (I want to live), written in just three weeks as steroids kept her awake at night, recounts her battle with the soft tissue sarcoma and how her faith in God helped her remain strong.

The 170-page publication was selling like hot cakes yesterday, with many people buying multiple copies of the €10 book. The profits are all going for the children's cancer organisation, Puttinu Cares.

Now, Ms Vassallo will be focusing on the two other things she wants to do before she dies. One of them is to go abroad.

"If I could, I would go to Thailand, but I do not think my beloved doctor would let me go so far," she told The Times, referring to Oncology Department chairman Stephen Brincat. But even if flying so many miles is not on the books, Ms Vassallo is resolved to go on holiday. "Maybe I can go to France and I would love to go to London again," she said excitedly.

Also on her to-do list is learning how to play the guitar. "I already get people together to say the rosary. I now want to organise a big prayer meeting, where I can play guitar."

She knows that she has to rush, doing everything in limited time.

"The clock is ticking and there is still a lot that I want to do before I die."

Archbishop Paul Cremona, who described his spiritual relationship with Ms Vassallo as "love at first voice" after he spoke to her while she was getting treatment in London, spoke highly of the young woman's zest for life.

Ms Vassallo told people how the disease has turned her into a better person. "It has made me a person whom I really love," she said, adding that cancer also brought her closer to God.

"I did not want cancer to destroy me. Whenever someone asked me why it had happened to me, I always answered why not," she said.

Asked by The Times where she finds her strength, Ms Vassallo said: "I never thought I was capable of facing disease in this way. I have many true friends and faith makes a big difference."

The "promise of heaven" is also helping Ms Vassallo march on. "I don't want to die. I want to live. But the promise of heaven is so beautiful that I am not scared of death because I know I'm going to a better place."

Despite her strong faith, Ms Vassallo admits that she put God aside when she was diagnosed.

"I spent a week angry at God, but then I missed him, just like people miss their boyfriend when he goes abroad, or their friends."

Ms Vassallo said she decided to write the book, which she described as her baby, because she wanted to leave a written account of her life. She wanted the book to be launched yesterday to serve as an invitation for people to get closer to God for Easter.

She admitted that she never expected yesterday's turnout. "It was a big surprise," she said.

The 10,000 copies of the book, published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, have almost sold out and a second reprint might be possible. The book can be bought from bookshops or online from www.midseabooks.com.