‘Everybody has a book in them…’

There’s a well-known expression: ‘Everybody has a book in them’ – something that I always end up saying when I’m asked how on earth you decide to write a book!

I say this because I came to be a writer in a round-about way, almost by accident really. I didn’t know I could be a writer, and I definitely didn’t know I had a book in me. I was 25, and in my first job as an editorial assistant (aka coffee-maker and chief photo-copier) at a well-known publishing house. They were looking for someone who could write horse books so I thought I would give it a go. And it turned out that I did have a book in me, or rather 7 books in me! Sandy Lane Stables came into being. Here’s the cover of the first one, A Horse for the Summer, when it was first published nearly 17 years ago!

Knowing about horses definitely helped me write these books – I was pony crazy as a girl as you can see from this photo (excuse the dodgy hair style!) – but I was also willing to have a go at anything. And so, there you are, my life’s work – the books I had in me weren’t about feelings or family or work, or any of the things you might have expected from a 25 year-old but about our four-legged friends. And yet I’ve always been very proud of these books. It felt quite an achievement to me to have sat down and written anything at all, let alone something that somebody wanted to publish! They’re still in print now (albeit with new covers). Here’s a picture of A Horse for the Summer as it is today. Very different from the earlier version, hey?

Last year saw me returning to the fold as  a writer, having worked for many years as an editor. Starting to write again made me see things in a new light – perhaps there was more than one book in me. My new series (a collaboration with Linda Chapman, the genius of series fiction) is about dinosaurs. I won’t go into too much detail here as they’re for young readers but you get the gist from the covers (about as unhorsey as you can get!)

It made me realise that you don’t actually need to write about what you know as long as you write about what you like. Which often means a whole load of research. Especially if you don’t know a thing about the subject! Dinosaur Land involved lots of background reading and multiple trips to the Natural History Museum. Everyone does indeed have a book in them – or 2, or 3 or 4. It’s just about having the courage to write it. The next series I am working on (another collaboration) is about something I know very little about. I feel a road trip coming on! Let me know the things you might like to write about – even if you know absolutely NOTHING about them at all!