It was the year 1984: I was an ‘A’ level student preparing to go to music college, hoping to be a professional musician.

But I was harbouring a secret.

The truth was, I preferred English lessons to music lessons. I loved reading and analysing books, and I LOVED writing about it.

I was especially gripped by Nineteen Eighty-Four: George Orwell’s nightmare account of Britain Gone Wrong. I was fascinated by the way that he took something that troubled him, twisted it to the extreme and asked ‘What If …?’  

Years later, this same thought process would become the starting point for my books. In Fierce Resistance, The JASMINE Portfolio and Mouse, I take a worrying trend and drag it to a dire conclusion – then throw a teenage girl into the mix and say, ‘Now deal with that.’

But the influences don’t stop there. I re-read Nineteen Eighty-Four this year – and was stunned to see how much this one book had stretched and pulled me into the writer I am today.

So I’ve written an article about it.

If you want to hear how 1984 turned out to be a HUGE number in my life … you can find out more HERE.  Or go to ‘News and Features’ on the menu bar and click on the drop-down menu.