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I was born in north London and grew up there.
My Dad, a Spurs supporter, tried hard to get me to take
an interest in football, but rather than kick a ball around
I made up stories and plays for friends to act out.
I grew out of that when I went to secondary
school and writing became work and you got marks for it.
Instead I threw myself into being a teenager and worried
my dad by having unsuitable boyfriends (not Spurs supporters.)
I studied English Literature at university
(Oxford - posh, I know) and went on to take a B. Phil in
Medieval Studies at York. Then I trained to be an English
teacher. I knew I had a problem when I used to find myself
doing the homework I set - my enjoyment of writing was kicking
in again.
My first novel was just a hobby - something
to do when my daughters had gone to bed. The day the book
was accepted for publication was one of the happiest days
in my life. (April 19th, 1991, if you’re interested.)
I’ve written eight novels for adults
but when I was asked to write a novel for teenagers by a
publisher, I found I enjoyed doing that even more. It was
almost like being a teenager again. Teenagers have all the
fun - but also more than their fair share of problems and
pressures, and it’s challenging to write about those.
My first young adult novel was What’s
Your Problem?, and it was about bullying. This was easy
to write as I was bullied myself for a while as a child.
The next, Is He Worth It?, was about what happens
when you think your best friend’s boyfriend is no good
for her. My third, Disconnected, is about exam pressure
and the struggle to find out who you really are. There are
two young adult novels in the pipeline, and my head is still
buzzing with ideas.
I’ve also written non-fiction for teenagers:
Fat, a book about body image, and The Alternative
GCSE Guides to English Language and English Literature.
Nowadays I live in Manchester with my husband,
two daughters and two cats and still don’t support
any football team. Instead I read loads, write a newspaper
column and still teach occasionally. I love travelling,
going out at night, and anything to do with computers. Including
the games. And I write a little every day …
Profile
supplied by Sherry Ashworth. Last Updated October 2002.
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