![]() They were often about other lads I fancied or had a crush on or about trying to make it through tough times. They were exactly as embarrassing and cringeworthy as you can imagine! I used to type them all up and keep them in a folder. I actually used to write song lyrics when I was younger and let me tell you – they were dreadful. Did you write poetry when you were younger? Do you still write now? – I really enjoyed James’ poems scattered throughout the story. I suppose Glitter Boy was my way of dealing with that period in my life and right some wrongs, whilst also offering hope for a new generation of LGBTQ+ youngsters who may be experiencing the same thing. ![]() I never stood up to my bullies, never told anyone, and tried desperately to forget it. A lot of the storylines in Glitter Boy have an element of ‘wish fulfilment’ to them. Writing Glitter Boy brought back a lot of memories and forced me to really look at my past, how I’d dealt with things, and why I behave and act in certain ways now. It was quite traumatic, actually! I didn’t get much sleep over the months that I was writing it and was having a lot of nightmares about being back in secondary school and experiencing homophobic bullying again. How did it feel to be revisiting that period and why did you feel it was important to do so? – Glitter Boy strikes me as a deeply personal novel which draws on some distressing experiences in your life. Overall, it was an exhausting, uplifting, emotional experience and I loved every minute of it! I had no idea where the characters were going to take me and was shocked when I wrote Chapter 10 and *that moment*. I knew that if I stopped to think about it too much, the pressure and nerves would get to me, so I decided to just really enjoy the writing process. I decided not to plan anything and just go for it. Once he’d fed back to me that I needed to slow down and could take my time setting up the characters and storyline, I felt a bit more confident. Luckily, Linas believed in me and asked me just to try writing a few chapters. Of course, despite reading lots of middle grade books, I didn’t really know much about their structure, word count or how to even begin writing one. Hamilton’ but my editor Linas felt that the story would work as a middle grade and asked me to think about how I could expand upon it. Glitter Boy actually started off life as a picture book called ‘Mr. How different was the process for getting Glitter Boy to publication in comparison? – Your previous titles include some wonderful, inclusive picture books but Glitter Boy is your first (and hopefully not last) middle grade book. ![]() There were moments of heartbreak, humour, and pure joy! When I had finished, I had lots of questions to ask Ian. The secrets are building up, and James is starting to lose his characteristic spark.Ĭan he find the strength to let the truth out?’Īs I said, Glitter Boy was an emotional rollercoaster of a read. James can find relief with his beloved Nan, she’s been having worrying falls, and James can’t tell anyone, or she might be sent to a faraway care home. Meanwhile, a different boy has been harassing James at school and calling him gay, and it’s getting worse every day. His teacher, Mr Hamilton, is getting married to his boyfriend and it seems that James will be part of a surprise choir performance at the wedding.īut James’s father seems uncomfortable about the plan, and a lot of other things – like any mention of Mr Hamilton, and James’s dancing, and how James talks about his new friend Joel. ‘James loves dancing, poetry, and Mariah Carey (not in that order, though, because Mariah would obviously be first!).
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