I write all sorts of stories for middle grade readers (ages 8+) up to young adults (ages 15+). Here's a taster of some of them...

Middle Grade Stories

ONE DAY A LYNX

An escaped lynx hides in the stairwell of a high-rise. To save it from being shot by the city's oppressive police force, an unlikely group of children embark on an adventure that will change not only their lives, but the entire future of the city.
Eleven-year-old Dasha Smit spends half the time living in fear of her Papa, who works for the city's police force known as Grippers, and the rest with Mama close to the city’s heavily-guarded Wall. Forced to babysit three-year-old half-sister Gina when Mama rushes off to a gathering crowd of protestors, Dasha has had quite enough of her blended family.
​Then a large wild cat, with what looks like feathers on its ears, appears in the stairwell of their block of flats. It chases Dasha to their neighbour’s – a new boy Dasha’s age called Vadim whom she hardly ever speaks to. Trapped inside his flat, Vadim, Dasha and Gina try to work out a way to escape the spooked lynx. The Grippers are on their way; they’re ready to shoot the lynx on sight. With the arrival of Dasha’s twelve-year-old step-brother, Sebastian, the children ask themselves a question: is the lynx really dangerous?
​They decide it’s not. They are going to save it. But with the temperature dropping and news of the escaped lynx spreading, including a reward for its capture announced on local TV, how easy is this going to be? And why is the lynx leading them towards the deadly Wall? The children can’t trust anyone – especially not the police.
Dasha and co set off on their impossible mission to protect the lynx and find somewhere safe where it can belong – on a day that they, and the whole of the Fatherland, will never forget....

Stories for Young Adults

NOT EVEN
​MYSELF

I trust no one. Not even the ones I love. Not even myself.
Millie Witherow has always been sensitive, introverted and artistic.  Now, at seventeen, as the pressures of A-Levels mount, and an exciting life beyond the family home beckons, her behaviour is starting to become a worry.
​Her boyfriend Jonny and best friend Lorna put it down to exam stress, although they wish she would wash more.  Her older brother Adam, who recently left home himself, feels for Millie but is haunted by his own fears. Meanwhile, little brother Arthur knows something’s not right but has enough problems coping with his day-to-day life at school.  And Mum and Dad think Millie is just being a typical teenager, although her nighttime pacing and obsession with the plumbing seem a little extreme.
No one but Millie can see the dark threats in every shadow, or understand the danger in the water. She alone must placate the goddess who has spoken. But how far will she go to protect the people she loves? 

THE SISTER OF THE BOY WHO

​When someone you love is changed forever, how can you move on..?
16-year-old Ava’s brother, Jake, was lead guitarist in a band called ‘The Boy Who’, with Kitty the singer and Ava on drums.  One night a senseless accident rips their lives apart, leaving Kitty dead and Jake catastrophically injured. 
He’ll never be the same again.  And nor will Ava.
Now Ava’s family are struggling to cope with the burden of Jake’s injuries, and Ava cannot forgive herself and Jake for the role they played in Kitty’s death.
Into this tinder box walks new boy Dillon, with his own problems.  He decides that the best musicians in the sixth form should re-form the band and put on a benefit concert in memory of Kitty.  He means well, and Ava’s friends Meredith and Rocco think it might work, but Ava cannot stand the idea.
Then Kitty’s estranged sister turns up unexpectedly and appears to be stalking Ava.  Ava’s
anxiety escalates, as do her resentment of Jake and sense of isolation from her friends. Her guilt sets her apart.
Ava is sure that a reckoning is coming for her, something terrible that she completely and utterly deserves.
Can bad boy Dillon, and best friend Meredith, and Rocco (who secretly loves Ava) reach her before it’s too late?  And can Jake make his voice heard too?
If you'd like more information on any of these stories, please contact me or my writing agent, Kate Shaw.