Y is for young people.

When I’m telling people about my books (which I do at every opportunity, obviously), I’m always careful to point out that Foul and Fair isn’t a children’s book. The setting – the world of Under 12s football – understandably leads some to assume a similarly aged target readership, whereas that’s not who I was writing for by any means (for one thing, it would be a far less sweary book if that were the case.)

Although the book isn’t for children, getting the young people in the book right was an important aspect of writing it. I hope that they are more than just eager would-be footballers. I’ve tried to reflet some of the emotional complexities that children today face, trying to find their place amongst their peers as well as dealing with difficult situations at home, at school and elsewhere. Although my main focus is on my two main characters, through their eyes we see the complexities of modern life for children.

Children and young people have been an important part of my professional life. After graduating, I fell into Youth Work as a stopgap that lasted nine years. After that I wrote and edited a website for teachers, providing secondary school lesson plans that used the latest Hollywood films to help students connect with the RE syllabus. More recently, I go into local Primary Schools as a sports coach, running lunchtime and after-school clubs.

My writing journey started with writing for children too, and the skillset I employ in my books for grown-ups (I’ve learned not to call them ‘adult books’ as that suggests something very different to what I do!) was honed and sharpened during many years of trying to get published as a children’s author. Most of my children’s writing was a valuable learning process and a step along the way that is best not revisited, but there are one or two that may yet see the light of day, and my current work-in-progress is an adaptation of the core idea of one of my children’s stories. Hopefully before too long I’ll be able to tell you all about that, and it will provide an A-Z series all of its own.