Debbie Roxburgh has worked in classrooms with children with SEND needs, as well as supporting teenagers. This is her debut novel. Debbie describers her work, professional experience and writing history here:'I have spent a large part of my working life supporting children and young adults with specialneeds. Being immersed in that environment, I quickly became aware of the need for diversebooks. I currently volunteer with reading in a local primary school.I discovered my tribe in the online writing community, Write Mentor, where the support issecond to none. I write young adult, middle grade and lower middle grade books.I have always been an avid reader. My dad worked in the book trade so our house was alwaysfull of books and I would regularly devour a whole book in a day. One of my MG books was placed in the Chicken House Open Coop Competition and another shortlisted in the Skylark Marvellous Middle Grade Competition.In 2024 I won the Wells Festival of Literature Local Writer’s Award with Flyboy.'What or who inspires you?The young people I have worked with continue to inspire me to write. Being a part of theirlives and watching them grow is very much ingrained in my stories.How you came to write your novelOverhearing how some of the teenage boys I worked with communicated emotional issuesgot me thinking. There was an awkwardness around how they approached these kind oftopics, a fear of losing face and perhaps being seen as weak. Then one of them adopted thevoice of a well-known fictional character and immediately spoke more freely.This gave me the idea of placing two teenage boys in a highly emotional situation with theirshared love of all things Star Wars to help them through a challenging journey.

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Debbie Roxburgh has worked in classrooms with children with SEND needs, as well as supporting teenagers. This is her debut novel. Debbie describers her work, professional experience and writing history here:'I have spent a large part of my working life supporting children and young adults with specialneeds. Being immersed in that environment, I quickly became aware of the need for diversebooks. I currently volunteer with reading in a local primary school.I discovered my tribe in the online writing community, Write Mentor, where the support issecond to none. I write young adult, middle grade and lower middle grade books.I have always been an avid reader. My dad worked in the book trade so our house was alwaysfull of books and I would regularly devour a whole book in a day. One of my MG books was placed in the Chicken House Open Coop Competition and another shortlisted in the Skylark Marvellous Middle Grade Competition.In 2024 I won the Wells Festival of Literature Local Writer’s Award with Flyboy.'What or who inspires you?The young people I have worked with continue to inspire me to write. Being a part of theirlives and watching them grow is very much ingrained in my stories.How you came to write your novelOverhearing how some of the teenage boys I worked with communicated emotional issuesgot me thinking. There was an awkwardness around how they approached these kind oftopics, a fear of losing face and perhaps being seen as weak. Then one of them adopted thevoice of a well-known fictional character and immediately spoke more freely.This gave me the idea of placing two teenage boys in a highly emotional situation with theirshared love of all things Star Wars to help them through a challenging journey.

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