And so to BLOG

I know what you’re thinking. Where do you get your ideas ?

One day in June 2005 I was on a train going from London to the Isle of Wight; at least more precisely Portsmouth Harbour, and from thence to Ryde Pier Head or the ‘Wet End’ as Islanders call it.

Three boys were sitting opposite me with their mum. The middle boy suddenly got up, walked up the carriage and out of sight. The train stopped at Guildford where lots of passengers got on and off, and I thought the boy would come back but he didn’t. By the time he did, I had him kidnapped by people traffickers and half way across the Channel. 

The next day at the lovely Isle of Wight school where I pretended to be the headteacher I was called to take an emergency cover with a group of Y4s. There was no time to scrabble about in the library so I went with the thriller in my head, the one about the boy on the train. They loved it. I used the names and places that they knew, and left them on a cliff edge, wondering if the boy ever survived. They were wondering?! I was desperate! I had to find out. There were many false starts and several completely different manuscripts in between, but Wolf Jacket finally became the story of Mitch who left the train at Guildford without any money or his inhaler or his sausage baguette. It’s a thriller for a reluctant reader who can read, but might not be old enough for Lee Child. There. Stick that in a genre if you can find one.

And as this is my first ever blog, on my first ever web site, distinctly behind the curve [as ever!] I must confess to you dear reader that Wolf Jacket is yesterday’s news. I’m far more excited about a neglected child called Jenni O’ Shove. O Shove you say? I do I do I do. Bait your breath and wait.