"FREEDOM LIES IN BEING BOLD" Robert Frost I'm a very shy Author and have only had two Teen/Young adult novels published so far. I have always scribbled ideas for novels and almost dared to let other people read them, but when you lack confidence it is a scary thing to show off your work. Now that I have, I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. Writing is amazing, it opens up your mind to so many possibilities and when I am in my work I feel like I am there with my characters. It's the same escapism I feel when I read a book. I only hope I can captivate the young people who read my work in the same way. If they are lost within the pages then I will have really achieved something I have so many influences in my writing. From when I was a child I would escape from the humdrum of everyday life into J.R. R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit" followed by "Lord of the Rings". I didn't understand a lot of it then, but was just enthralled by the magical and exitingly different world it led me into. Enid Blyton was another favourite, and I imagined myself as some kind of child supersleuth who could solve mysteries like "the Famous Five". Catherine Cookson sparked my interest in historical novels about Tyneside, and Honor Arundel's story "The High House" about a teenager who had lost her parents and gone to live with a bohemian, artistic aunt, appealed to my growing mind. There are so, so many creative literary minds nowadays but the two that spring to mind, given that my house is full of teenagers, are J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), and Stephenie Meher (Twilight). If I ever, ever achieve some portion of their brilliance, I will sit back with a nice cup of tea and say "yeah, I made It!"

Two published Teen/YA novels; Only Human, teen/vampire ebook on Amazon.com/uk. Four's A Crowd, Teen/sci-fi available in print and ebook on amazon.com/uk

Runner up of Homeland competition with the poem 'Manchester'.