Stones
Stones follows Coo, a sixteen year old girl, in the months following the death of her brother, Sam, to alcoholism. She shuns her parents because they failed to protect her, and feels guilty because part of her is glad that Sam is gone. One day while truanting, she meets a young, homeless man called Banks.
Despite warnings from her friends, Coo and Banks develop an unlikely friendship, until, dangerously, it turns to something else.
Set in Brighton, both inside Coo’s broken family, and outside, around the lanes and the winter seafront, it is also about how the most important conversations sometimes take place between strangers, and how love can grow in the darkest places.
The book has been compared to Jenny Valentine, Meg Rosoff and John Green, so how does this make you feel?
Immensely flattered to be compared to any of these wonderful writers, and rather worried about being found lacking! I’d be delighted if my writing was as well received and enjoyed.
Why did you decide to set the book in Brighton?
The decision wasn’t a conscious one. The whole book grew out of a free writing exercise to try and recapture the fun of telling stories which I’d rather lost sight of in the demands of job and family. No longer could I come in and say ‘I’m off upstairs to write a story – call me for tea!’ as I did when I was a child, and I missed that. I was worrying too much about the nuts and bolts, so the idea of the exercise was to write without thinking or planning. Out of that, Coo appeared and brought Brighton with her. It is a place I know and love, and I think it’s just right for the two contrasting sides of Coo’s personality.
Please tell us about the character of Coo.
I like her as a character. Perhaps because part of the book is based on true events there’s a little bit of me in her. She’s been pushed aside by the problems created by her brother and unwittingly neglected. She’s a very angry girl, but desperately wants her family back again, but with Sam as he was before the alcohol took hold. This means a lot of guilt too. Because she can’t communicate any of this, she goes looking for love in all the wrong places.
Where did the inspiration for the book come from?
It is often said that first novels are as much about the writer as their creations. If that is true, it wasn’t deliberate, even though many events in the book are based on reality: I also had an older brother who dramatically affected my teenage years and sadly died young from alcohol abuse. I also made many of the mistakes Coo makes while trying to be heard. However, since none of this was planned, it must simply have been bubbling away waiting to come out.
What made you want to tackle such difficult themes as homelessness, sexuality and illicit romance?
Most of the stories I enjoy, even the bouncy, happy ones, contain an element of darkness or hidden complexity. I am drawn to outsiders and people with secrets, who are not what they appear to be on the surface. However, again, these themes were not conscious choices but grew as the story developed.
One thing I have learnt is not to judge by appearances. Some of the most hair-raising people I met have been vulnerable and very ‘normal’ underneath.
I like challenging stereotypes and labels, or expectations imposed by gender or status. Also, I think, these things are a reflection of Coo’s state of mind. A homelessness and exclusion that she perhaps seeks out unconsciously.
Who are your favourite reads?
Hmm… I love Ursula Le Guin. Her ‘Earthsea’ quartet is wonderful because it seems to grow with the reader, so you could start reading it as a child and grow with each novel. I think books should be like that – read everything, ignore the labels. Alan Garner was my favourite YA writer growing up, and now I read Meg Rosoff, Kevin Brooks and David Almond. Otherwise, more ‘adult’ reads at the moment are ‘Bringing up the bodies.’ Robin Hobb, and James Friel’s ‘The posthumous affair. I read a lot.
What is next for you?
I have finished a second book, which I am now editing. I think this one is more for an adult audience, but anyone from young adult upwards could read it. I also have another YA novel in note and snippet stage, which has a boy as the main character. I’ll be working on that one next. Both of the main characters are misfits. There does seem to be a theme there.
Published by Authonomy.