I was 23 before my first novel appe

I was 23 before my first novel appeared in the bookshops. It had been a challenge to find a publisher who would even look at it. As soon as they heard that it was about teenagers and their problems, they just weren’t interested. 75 one of them read it and loved the way I try to show the funny side of any difficult situation. I’m quite 76 teenagers now, and some even say hello when they see me in the street.I’m not sure where my stories come from – that’s like asking people to tell you where their dreams come from. Some writers get 77 from other writers’ work they’ve read, but I keep a notebook and I put down interesting things I notice wherever I go. Those things come into my stories.I write full time now and I love it, but it’s hard work. I write everything out by hand, and after I’ve corrected it, I type it on my computer. I’m OK at 78 and I’ve done some pictures for my books, but one day I met a professional artist, John Brookes, who now does most of them and they’re a great improvement on my efforts.Recently one of my books was made into a film, which was an exciting experience. I didn’t write the dialogue between the characters – other writers did that very well. I visited while they were filming and I sometimes feel like 79 improvement, but in the end I just let them do what they wanted. I must say I was pleased with the book they chose to film, but thought it was a shame they made so many changes to the story.