This page was written 27/05/2002 updated 22/09/2003
Yes, my claim to fame - I was a finalist in BBC Talent Children's Fiction competition. Had a
brief spell of fame on the BBC website, now wiped to make room for this year's finalists.
Spent a while thinking I might actually 'be' a writer instead of just wanting to be. Although the novel was finished in first draft in December 2001, I am only now looking for an agent for this and other work.
Thought for the day: Autumn Equinox is a good time to reap the harvest of our hard work.
Meanwhile, here's a few thoughts on the writing of
the book, written just after I posted it off in December 2001.
It's a bizarre situation as I never thought I would become a children's author. I am
working and have worked with children and young people but all my writing up until this point has been
at an adult level. Mostly I've written detective, sci-fi or fantasy with strong women Xena type characters (or a mixture of all three).
The main protagonist in all of my unfinished novels has been the same
age that I was at the time of writing. I always got bogged down during writing a novel and
couldn't complete it. I've written innumerable short stories but never managed to get further
than about four or five chapters of a novel.
I saw the competition leaflet for BBC Talent in McDonalds in May 2001, the closing date was May 31st.
So I put a spurt on and wracked my brains, coming up with the synopsis and first chapter just in
time to post it off. Then completely forgot about it and started writing another (adult) novel.
I'd just about finished the first draft of this, and very proud of myself to finally have finished
something, when I got a phonecall to say I'd been shortlisted for the prize.
I went on a trip to BBC headquaters in London and met the other five finalists. We had a
workshop with Michael Rosen and Jacqueline Wilson (both famous children's authors) and were all
duly awe-struck. Then of course I had to knuckle down and finish writing the book. That was one
of the most exhiliarating and exhausting experiences of my life. I haven't yet given birth but
I've heard descriptions and I can tell you Isabelle was a hard and prolonged labour.
During and since writing Isabelle I've had a deluge of ideas for further novels and am now embarking on
a sequel. Motivation factors that kept me going are the contact with the other five finalists - we
have established a bit of a writers' support network which is good for us all; having my photo in
the local paper with a headline 'Josie books a prize' and half-page article on it (South Wales
Echo 7/11/01); and of course the cheque for £2000.
I am still continuing to write short stories for children and adults and still thinking of completing
that first-drafted novel I wrote last summer. One of these days I will pick up all of those unfinished
novels I have written over the last fifteen years and decide which ones are worth completing.
