Elizabeth stumbled into writing at the age of fourteen and quickly found her story ideas pouring out. Elizabeth’s personal experience as a young author with the challenges of autism, depression and anxiety, along with her writing theme of acceptance and overcoming obstacles, have led to her having a junior school class named after her.
What inspired you to write your first novel?
I was fourteen when I started writing and my ideas were coming out faster than I could get them onto paper. Sometimes they came from sketches of characters I’d invented; some came from ideas for other stories, and others from photos or video clips I’d seen. I had several folders full of story ideas and first chapters. The inspiration for my first proper book, however, was a little unusual.
I like to work with a photo or illustration of my character in front of me, as this works better for me than a written character profile. While I was searching for an image of a dalmatian for a story ideal was tinkering with, I came across a photo of a dalmatian with a husky. It felt like the husky was looking at me and telling me her own story. The sensation was so strong that I had to write it for her, and ‘Akea – The Power of Destiny’ was born. It was as if the whole thing had been planted in my head and I wrote at all hours of the day and night until I finished it. Incidentally, the dalmatian story was never written.
Do you have a special place to write?
I live with my parents and my older brother who is disabled, so my bedroom was the only place I could guarantee being undisturbed. I would have my shih tzu, Kizzy, tucked along side me, two tablet devices – one for research, one for character photos – and a notebook and pencil to hand. I also had a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door.
Just over a year ago, Kizzy developed a back problem and now has to be carried up and down stairs, which she isn’t happy about. I can’t seem to work up there without her, so I am retraining my brain to write downstairs with her tucked up next to me on the sofa instead. This is a work in progress as I don’t handle change well. My brother spends a lot of time doing his own thing in his bedroom now, so downstairs is much quieter than it used to be.
Why did you choose to write for children?
Actually, I didn’t choose to write for children. It’s just the way it happened. It probably had a lot to do with being fourteen when I started writing. At that age, you don’t have the experience or the vocabulary to write for adults.
Also, due to my Aspergers (an autistic spectrum disorder), found it easier to write from an animal’s perspective than from a human one. Animals make more sense to me than people, and I can understand them on an almost telepathic level. As animal based books tend to be read by children, this naturally leads to writing for children – although, it has to be said that many adults have thoroughly enjoyed my Akea adventures too, especially if they are fans of Jack London’s Call of the Wild.
I think one of the best things about writing for children has been the way in which they show their appreciation. I once received a photograph from a little girl who had gone to school for World Book Day dressed as the main husky character, Akea.
And someone else sent me a photo of their husky reading their copy of Akea. I don’t imagine you get that kind of response when writing for adults. It gave me a real sense of connection.
But the biggest thrill has got to be having Oldfield Park Junior School in Bath name one of their classes after me this September, and talk about the key issues of acceptance and overcoming obstacles, that are raised in the books. I received numerous thank you letters for sending the class bookmarks, and plenty of husky pictures too. So while writing for children wasn’t something I set out to do, it’s certainly been worthwhile.
Has being a writer been life-long ambition, or did you start writing for different reasons?
As a child, I struggled to get to grips with the whole spelling, punctuation, handwriting and imagination thing. I could perform either of these to a good standard as an individual requirement, but I couldn’t combine them together in the same piece of work. Once I had switched to home schooling, my mother told me to forget about them and just allow my imagination to flow. She promised not to correct any of the above, which was quite a big step for someone with a spelling fetish. Things were a little stilted to begin with, but I began to enjoy the experience and the ideas started to flow.
When I was fourteen, I began to struggle with depression and anxiety, and I found writing was a marvellous distraction. It allowed me to become completely absorbed in something fictional and forget about the way I felt. At that time, I was also unaware I was autistic, and I think writing helped me to make sense of the world by seeing it through the eyes of the animals I was writing about.
What is your favourite Children’s book or books?
I’ve enjoyed a number of different children’s books over the years, but I think my favourites would be the Animal Ark series by Lucy Daniels and the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.
Do you have a new book currently being written or about to come out, if so, can you tell us anything about it?
I am currently working on the third book in my Akea series. Among other things, my Akea stories show the importance of acceptance and overcoming obstacles, and are told through the eyes of the huskies and wolves.
This interview was conducted in 2021.