Inspire Me! The inspiration for “Magpie Soup” by Dave Cousins.

To celebrate the publication of the collaboration, Stories From The Edge, I'm so pleased to welcome Dave Cousins back onto the blog, to tell us about the inspiration behind his story in the book, Magpie Soup. 

Hi, Viv—thanks for inviting me back to Serendipity Reviews. 

Long time visitors to the blog might remember “15 Days without a Head”—my debut novel for teenagers published back in 2012—it’s where Mina, from “Magpie Soup”, made her first appearance.

She wasn’t supposed to have a huge role in that story, but the moment I started writing about Mina, I knew she was going to be important to Laurence and Jay’s story. She was one of those characters who came to life on the page. I liked her irreverent take on life, the way she gently teased Laurence and was more than happy to join Jay in his crazy six-year-old world. Mina offered the brothers friendship, help, and someone to trust when they needed it most.

Which was great—but it also gave me a problem. “15 Days without a Head” wasn’t supposed to be about Mina, it was Laurence and Jay’s story. The term ‘killing your darlings’ will be familiar to anyone who has reached editing stage with their writing, but this time it really hurt. I had to sit Mina down and, as diplomatically as possible, remind her that she was only supporting cast. Of course, she took it better than I did—but that was the moment something sparked into life somewhere in the dark depths of my subconscious—the idea that Mina deserved her own story.

I travel a lot visiting schools, libraries and book festivals, and most sessions end with a Q&A. I’m always touched when someone asks if there will be a sequel to one of the books—when readers want to know what happened next for Laurence, Jay and Mina. A few people even told me that Mina was their favourite character, and each time they did, that spark glowed a little brighter.

In “15 Days” Mina and her dad have recently moved down from Yorkshire. We know that Mina plays in a brass band and that her mum has died. I decided I wanted to go back and explore Mina’s life before she meets Laurence and Jay. 

For me, stories are centred on characters—I’m interested in people—how they cope with what life throws at them. Losing a parent at a young age is going to be a life-changing experience, so I decided to set the story on the morning of Mina’s mum’s funeral. Then I sat down and started writing, and waited to see what would happen.

That’s how I like to work—discovering the story as I write. I follow the characters, listen to what they have to say, and watch what they do. It’s not the most efficient method, and can take a long time with lots of false starts and dead-ends. Many times I’ve written tens of thousands of words before I realise there simply isn’t a story to tell, which is frustrating. But this method has also provided some of the scenes and ideas I am most proud of—they grew organically from the writing and would never have occurred to me had I sat down and tried to plot them out. Not that I’m saying plotting doesn’t work—far from it. Once I discover the story I’m trying to tell, I have to find structure and balance among the mess on the page—but that comes later.

Following Mina on the morning of her mum’s funeral led me to a song. Mina needs to feel her mum’s presence in the room full of sombre people in dark clothes, and plays one of her mum’s favourites. It’s a song Mina grew up with—knew all the words to, without ever consciously learning them. There’s a line in the song about eating soup with magpies in! It struck me as an idea a child would pick up on—the younger Mina would have wanted to know if people really made soup from magpies—like the blackbirds baked in a pie from ‘Sing a song of sixpence’. Mina remembers her mum’s explanation—

“You told me that magpies fill their nests with shiny things they like the look of, and that magpie soup was the same: a combination of all the things you liked, so it was different for each person who made it. You said it didn’t matter if the ingredients didn’t really go together—because how could it taste bad if it was made up of all my favourite things? I have to say, you set yourself up for disaster with that one, Mum.”

That was the spark. The rest of the story grew from there. By the end, Mina is able to come to terms with her mum not being around anymore because she realises that her mum will live on in her memories and all the things she taught Mina—like how to make Magpie Soup.

Mina’s mum’s favourite song is ‘Fortunately Gone’ by The Breeders—you can listen to it here.

https://youtu.be/OlFJufLRQMU?list=PL5143E0B5C2566757

“Magpie Soup” is from the new Young Adult anthology “Stories from The Edge”, a collection of gripping, thought-provoking tales by eight award-winning UK YA authors. 

From the perils of online chat rooms, doping in sport, racism and terrorism, to gender and self-esteem issues, love, life and death, “Stories from The Edge” isn’t afraid to ask some big questions. Sometimes frightening, often funny, always brutally honest, these stories will take you to where the shadows are darkest and the ground drops away. The question is, are you prepared to look over the edge?

Out now in paperback (£5.99) and eBook (£1.99) Please visit http://edgeauthors.blogspot.co.uk for details.

For more information on Dave Cousins, visit http://www.davecousins.net

More Stories from The Edge Blog Tour posts here:

http://www.yayeahyeah.com/2016/07/a-parents-terror-by-bryony-pearce.html

Beyond Words … The Making of the Waiting for Gonzo soundtrack

Today as part of the Waiting For Gonzo blog tour, I am pleased to invite back the rather talented Dave Cousins to tell us all about his soundtrack for his second book.

Dead Frank’s Supersonic Milkfloat were the best band on the planet. They only made two albums before splitting up, but those twenty-five tracks are … well … beyond words. I just know that whenever I listen to Dead Frank, it makes everything better - even here. 

I scrolled through the music on my phone and selected Spilt Milk - Dead Frank’s seminal debut - and hit play. By the time I turned into Scar Hill Lane I was already feeling better. That’s the healing power of music, G.

(from Waiting for Gonzo by Dave Cousins, Oxford University Press, 2013)

Music plays an important role in Waiting for Gonzo. The tracks on Oz’s phone, are sometimes the only thing that keeps him going. So my publisher’s suggestion to compile a playlist of some of his favourite songs seemed logical. Except for one tiny problem: all the bands Oz loves only exist on the page and in my head! 

I chose to invent fictional bands for a number of reasons. Firstly - music is such a personal thing, I didn’t want to use existing artists that readers might not like. Also, Oz is a bit of an elitist - he only listens to obscure music that nobody else has heard of. Anyway, I had great fun coming up with group names, song and album titles - everything was fine, until the idea was raised that readers might want to actually hear what Spilt Milk by Dead Frank’s Supersonic Milkfloat sounded like.

Sometimes without realising it, the seed of an idea gets planted. A few days later, I was waiting for the kettle to boil, and picked up my guitar. 

You know, it might be fun if there were some actual songs out there … said the voice in my head … hidden away on the internet for readers to find if they decided to go looking. 

I ignored it and started picking out a tune, then found myself mumbling the title of one of the songs in the book over the top … cigarette … UFO … 

Twenty minutes later my tea had gone cold, but I had a song written.

Before I was an author - when I still had hair - I played in a band. We had a record deal and were almost famous for a while …

I rang up my old band mate, Michael - the inspiration for Dead Franks’ Michael Death in the book. 

“Er … you wouldn’t fancy writing a song for me would you?”

“A song?!!!” (I could actually hear those exclamation marks rattling down the phone!)

I explained. He didn’t sound convinced.

“The band’s called Dead Frank’s Supersonic Milkfloat,” I told him.

Michael laughed. 

“The song’s called Spilt Milk.”

“Mmm …” he said. “Let me think about it.”

Twenty-four hours later Spilt Milk by Dead Frank’s Supersonic Milkfloat was blasting out of my phone. I rang Michael.

“This is great,” I told him. “Perfect!”

“I enjoyed it,” he said. “Pity you don’t need any more.”

“Well …” I said, “there are three other bands in the story.”

Two months later we had a full soundtrack album recorded, featuring ten original songs by all of Oz’s favourite bands - each with a unique sound and style: from the sci-fi, pop-punk of Cigarette UFO to Dead Frank’s Supersonic Milkfloat and their brittle brand of tongue-in-cheek lyrics over a rack of angry Telecasters; the epic gothic rock of Prayer for Halo and, of course, the magnificently monocular cynical sunshine pop of Cyclops Dog. Ten imaginary songs by bands that don’t exist. Which just proves that sometimes the power of music does indeed take you beyond words …

The Waiting for Gonzo Soundtrack will be released on 18 March 2013, available from www.waitingforgonzo.bandcamp.com as well as iTunes, Spotify etc. 

Check out the music video for Cigarette UFO  - the song that started it all - here

Waiting for Gonzo is out now in paperback, published by Oxford University Press.
For more info visit www.davecousins.net

15 Days Without A Head Blog Tour with Dave Cousins

Today is officially publication day of '15 Days Without A Head' by Dave Cousins, published by Oxford University Press. You may remember me raving about this book when I read it last year. If not, please click here to read my review. I am over the moon to be hosting the third stop on Dave's blog tour and I was lucky enough to get to interview him again.  Here  is the interview where Dave tells us about his hopes for publication day as well as more information about his book.

Hi Dave, Thanks for coming on my blog again!
It’s good to be back, Viv!

Today is officially publication day. How are you feeling?
Relieved, excited, exhausted … and if I'm honest, a little bit nervous. It seems a lifetime ago that I started writing 15 Days Without a Head with no thought that one day it might actually be published. So, it’s great to think that today the book will finally be in the hands of readers.

You know how much I loved 15 Days Without A Head but I am curious. How many scenes were taken out of the book that you would have loved to have kept in?
To be honest - none! I enjoy the process of editing and am always amazed and delighted how a book comes to life when all the superfluous words and scenes have been cut away. Having said that, there were a family with a dog that featured in a very early draft, but were cut when I completely rewrote the second half of the book. I liked them as characters, so there’s a chance they might crop up in their own story sometime. They actually get the briefest of mentions on page 159 of the book.

How did you come up with such an interesting surname as Roach for your characters?
That came as a result of one of those magical moments when separate elements in a story suddenly connect. I started the book by placing two brothers in a run-down flat with cockroaches in the kitchen. I thought I ought to do some research on roaches, and when I discovered they could live for days without a head, it was one of those light bulb moments. I knew I had my title and thought it would be fun to give Laurence the surname, Roach. As the story developed, I realized how apt this name was, considering the theme of survival running through the book. At one point Laurence actually said: “I’m a Roach, a born survivor!” though the line didn’t make the final edit.

For me, Jay was one of my favourite characters, but which was your favourite character to write about?
It was Jay actually. I had the most fun with him. I enjoyed thinking up humorous ways he could make things difficult for Laurence - like forcing him to play Scooby-Doo in public. I like the relationship between the brothers, it was the driving force behind the book, so I enjoyed writing the scenes where they were together. I have to say, I wouldn’t want Jay as a little brother though.


The book deals with some very hard hitting issues. How did you research these to make them so authentic in detail?
Most of it was imagination. I tend to start by imagining and using my own experience, and then go back and check authenticity with an expert. A friend of mine put me in touch with a children’s social worker who was kind enough to read parts of the story. Her feedback was incredibly useful for making sure that procedures were correct, but also in terms of the details - the social worker checking the fridge had food in it, for instance. It was important to me that she felt the book was an accurate portrayal and did justice to a situation that unfortunately many children find themselves in. According to the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, there are an estimated one million children in the UK affected by parental alcohol problems.


If the book was picked up by a TV production company tomorrow (which I am definitely rooting for), which actor would you like to see playing the part of Laurence?
That would be great - and fascinating to see someone else’s interpretation of the book. I don't know many actors of the right age, so I’m probably not the best person to cast the role though. Ollie Barbieri who played JJ in series three of Skins, might be good; or Daniel Roche from Outnumbered and Just William - he’s a good actor and would be the right age by the time anyone got round to filming! The person would have to be tall enough though, as Laurence is over six feet!


The scene in the book, where Laurence wears a dress is hilarious. Did you have to act this out to gain authenticity?
Ha ha! As you know, I sometimes use that scene for readings, so I get asked this question a lot. The answer is yes! Though I did tell my wife first, so she didn't catch me trying to struggle into her clothes and wonder what I was up to. I rely on a mixture of imagination and experience when writing. You can't have first hand knowledge of everything you write about, in fact there are things I've struggled to put into a story because they are too close to my own life. On the other hand, having done something yourself, does give you those extra details that your imagination would never supply. Finding exactly how awkward it is to put on a bra for example!


The scene mentioned above was one of my favourite ones in the book, but which scene did you enjoy writing the most?
That's difficult! I remember vividly the scenes I struggled with and had to revise many times, whereas the ones that flowed easily are less fresh in my mind. The scene when Jay attacks the trees with his stick - the way it weaves into what Laurence is doing at the time - I remember being pleased with that; and the scene with Mina in the café was fun. The thing is, if I’m not happy with a particular scene, I tend to rewrite it until I am!


What books do you like reading?
I read almost exclusively teen and YA novels - not because it’s my job, but because I think that the best writing and stories are found on those shelves. There are certain authors whose books I’ll buy every time, people like Keith Gray and Julie Hearn, Frank Cottrell Boyce … but I'm always on the look out for new books. I like interesting story ideas and a unique voice, something that tugs at my heart or makes me laugh. I love it when a book is so good it floors me, though as a writer it can be a bit deflating. You just have to think, maybe if I keep trying, I'll write something this good one day. Lucy Christopher’s Stolen was one book that knocked me off my feet last year. Superb!


Will you be doing any book signings to promote the book, and if so where will you be visiting?
I'm off on a week of school visits soon and have a provisional date for a book signing in my local Waterstone's, to tie in with more school visits in March. I'm hoping to get out as much as possible to meet readers all over the country, and have a number of things lined up. I’ll be posting event dates and information on my website as it becomes available.


Last time we spoke, you mentioned you were presently working on your second book, Waiting for Gonzo. How far have you got with that?
I'm happy to say that I've completed the early drafts and it’s now with my editor. I know the manuscript still needs some serious revising before I get it right, so I'm looking forward to getting on with the next version. I'm really happy with parts of it already though, which is good. I've also got two new stories jumping up and down for attention, but until Waiting for Gonzo is finished I have to resist the temptation to think too much about them! Thanks for having me on Serendipity Reviews again, Viv, and for all your support for 15 Days Without a Head. It’s much appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to come and join us again. I know alongside my readers, we wish you all the best with your publication. 

To find out more about Dave Cousins:

Twitter: DaveCousins9000
Blog: http://davecousins.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DaveCousinsAuthor?sk=wall

The Day I Met Joss Stirling and Dave Cousins

Apologies before I begin this post for the quality of these photos. Unfortunately my camera died on me about five minutes before I went to this event and I had to use the camera on my phone.

On Wednesday the 21st September, I was invited along to a 'Bloggers Evening of

Cocktails, Canapés, and Captivating Teen Titles

with authors Joss Stirling and Dave Cousins

and Senior Commissioning Editor, Jasmine Richards'.

Along with many of my book blogging pals, we went to the Charlotte Street Hotel, where we were greeted with glasses of champagne and some seriously tasty canapes!

 For the first half hour we mingled among the authors and guests. I had a lovely chat with Jenny Younger, the Children's Publicity Executive for Oxford University Press, who is pictured above. She told us how lovely it was to finally put faces to blog names, as she read so many of our reviews. 

 I then managed to have a chat with Jasmine Richards (pictured above) , who is the senior commissioning editor for Oxford University Press. Now Jasmine Richards, is a name you don't want to forget, as this lovely lady has two of her own books coming out next year.  A Book of Wonders will be published by Harper Collins in America in January 2012. Her UK book has a title but I am not sure if it has been revealed yet, so more on that one in the future. I have to say I found her very inspirational to talk to. 

 Half way through the evening, we all sat down to listen to the authors talk about their books and each read a passage from them. Jenny thanked us all for coming and Jasmine introduced us to Joss Stirling and Dave Cousins.


Joss Stirling is the author of Finding Sky and Stealing Phoenix. She told us that she began to write the series to try and get her daughter out of the Twilight series loop. Her daughter kept rereading the same four books and she wanted to prove that she could write a series just as enthralling. 

She revealed the title of the third book in the series as 'Seeing Crystal,' which I was extremely excited about. I asked Joss about her first drafts and editing and she left me rather gobsmacked when she told us that very little changed in the story after her first draft, even though she didn't pre plan it! I want to write like her!

 Next we met Dave Cousins and what a lovely down to earth guy he was. For a debut author to get up in front of us all, tell us his life story and make us laugh within a minute of talking, you would have thought he had been doing this for years. He was very professional and very funny. He used to be in a band, but he wouldn't tell us which one.  I am still waiting to find that out! He told us about all the old manuscripts he had under his bed. I do hope he goes back to rewrite some of them.  Dave found an agent after winning the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology 2010; his debut book Fifteen Days Without A Head is published in January 2012.

 It was  a great event to attend. I was truly inspired by the authors that I met that night. It was lovely to see all my blogging pals too. At the end of the evening, we were given a goodie bag which had a copy of Stealing Phoenix and Fifteen Days Without A Head in it, as well as a copy of Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson which comes out next year. We were also presented with a luxury tin of hot chocolate! Need I say any more!

Thank you Oxford University Press for a lovely evening.

Joss Stirling: Blog address: http://jossstirling.co.uk/
                   Twitter ID:@jossstirling

Dave Cousins: Blog address: http://www.davecousins.net/
                       Twitter ID : @DaveCousins9000

The Big Break with Dave Cousins

I am extremely happy to welcome Dave Cousins to the blog today. He is the seventh author to join us from The Edge blog. His debut novel 15 Days Without A Head is published in January 2012 with Oxford University Press. Dave was the winner of SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices competition for  2010. If you would like to know more about The Edge blog, then please click here. 

Firstly, can I thank you for joining me today on my blog. 
I’m delighted to be here, Viv, thanks for inviting me.

What did you do for a living before writing became your chosen career?
After finishing art college I played in a band for about ten years. We released a couple of records, toured all over the UK, appeared on TV a few times and were almost famous! When I finally put my leather trousers into retirement, I got a job as a graphic designer.

How long did it take you to write your debut novel ‘Fifteen Days Without A Head’ and where did you write it?
I wrote a first draft quite a long time ago, but wasn’t happy with the result. I put it away and moved on to something else, but the story kept nagging away at me, so I decided to start again from scratch. That was the version that eventually became 15 Days Without a Head.
I wrote it anywhere I could fit in some writing. I was still working full-time and had to find opportunities to write around that and my family. Most of the book was written at my desk in the attic, either early in the morning or late at night, when everyone else was in bed. I also wrote in my lunch breaks, sheltering under a canal bridge when it rained. During revisions I used to mark-up the previous night’s pages while walking to work - in the snow a couple of times!


Where did you get the idea for the book?
An incident I witnessed in a pub one afternoon. A really drunk woman arguing with the people at the next table, much to the embarrassment of her sons. It made me wonder what life was like for those two boys, what would happen when they got home. All my stories grow from a spark like that - a character or situation that affects me in some way and makes me care enough to start writing to find out what happens next.

Was this your first finished manuscript, or are there others hidden away?
My attic is stacked with boxes and envelopes stuffed with finished and abandoned manuscripts. I should probably have a look and see if any of them are any good!

I understand an extract of your book was published as part of the Undiscovered Voices anthology 2010, did that help you find an agent?
Yes, my agent Sarah Manson was one of the judges! Undiscovered Voices had a huge impact on my writing career. I was bowled over by the interest I received from agents and editors when the anthology was published. UV is such a great idea and has been incredibly successful. So far, thirteen of the twenty-four winners have publishing contracts and have been nominated for (and won) an array of literary prizes.

How many times did you have to edit your book before the agent was happy to send it off to publishers?
I did a couple of edits with Sarah, one of which involved re-writing the second half of the book because I wasn’t happy with it. All the time I was writing about Laurence and Jay, I knew I had a responsibility to do justice to their story and tell it properly, which made me very critical of what I wrote.
Once the story was working, we did another draft concentrating on crafting the writing, which is a part I really enjoy. I like chopping sections away, tightening everything up, finding better ways to tell a particular scene. I love playing with words, the rhythm of the language - it’s an excuse to get my Thesauruses out and drool a little.

What was your first reaction when you found out that your book was to be published?
A mixture of delight and amazement. Even though I’d had such a good response from the anthology, with lots of editors saying really nice things, I still didn’t believe it would actually happen. I don’t think it felt real until I received the bound proofs a few months ago and saw 15 Days Without a Head in book form for the first time.

How long has it taken for your book to reach publication after the initial agreement?
It feels like a lifetime - over eighteen months. But all the publishers I met were talking about a January 2012 publication. I’m gradually learning that the industry tends to work to very long lead times.


What was happening to your manuscript during this time? 
Once I’d signed with Oxford, I did another draft with my editor, Jasmine Richards. I also spent some time checking my research. When I wrote the book I wasn’t expecting it to be published so I’d made up names for things - like the supermarket the boys visit and a film Laurence remembers Mum taking him to. I had to check they didn’t already exist, and make up new ones in a couple of cases.
I delivered the book in December of last year, and since then it has been through the various departments at OUP - copy-edit, design, publicity, sales and marketing - on it’s path to publication in January.

How are you keeping yourself occupied as you wait for publication day?
I’m currently writing my next book for OUP

How will you celebrate on publication day?
Ever since I found out that 15 Days was going to be published, my youngest has been talking about going into a bookshop and picking the book off the shelves. So I think we’ll go and buy ourselves a copy on the day it comes out, then maybe go to a café for tea and cake to celebrate!

What are you working on next?
I’m currently writing my next book for OUP. It’s called Waiting for Gonzo, but I can’t tell you any more about it than that at the moment.


Do you write full time now?
Yes, and there still aren’t enough hours in the day! It’s not easy making a living as a writer, but it’s what I always wanted to do, so I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to give it a go.

Tell us what a typical writing day would be like?
I get up at seven so I can have breakfast with my family, then make a cup of tea and head up into the attic. I try to be at my desk by eight o’clock. Before I start writing, I check my email and schedule for the day, to make sure there isn’t anything I need to do that I’ve forgotten about! I write until noon, then have a drink and something to eat. I’m back at my desk by one, to do another three hours, by which time my wife and son are normally home. On a good day I’ll write between four and five thousand words. I then do another couple of hours in the evening, though this tends to be all the other related bits of work, rather than actual writing. If I’m behind, or on a tight deadline, I’ll get up earlier and work longer. It’s a solitary occupation, but when I’m writing I hardly notice as my head is full of characters and the things that are happening to them. Though I do find myself talking to the cat more often than is probably healthy.

What advice would you give to aspiring and unpublished authors?
Read a lot and write a lot! The importance of reading is often over-looked, especially by writers who have to make time to write, but as Stephen King once said, “if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” I would also advise finding a regular slot to write each day, even if it’s just for fifteen minutes, so you develop the habit. Keep writing and keep making mistakes, because that’s how you learn and get better. Each word you read makes you a better writer, each word you write, even more so. Lastly, don’t give up and don’t be too impatient - write because you love writing, not purely to be published.

Thanks Dave, for a fabulous interview. Although I still didn't quite catch the name of the band you used to play with!

Fifteen Days Without A Head will be available in January 2012 and I am completely positive you will love it.
If you would like to know more about Dave you can find him below:


Blog: www.davecousins.net
Twitter: DaveCousins9000

15 Days Without A Head by Dave Cousins

 Pages - 272

Published by Oxford University Press in 2012

'The front door slams. Mum's back.

It sounds like a dead body hitting the ground as she dumps her stuff in the hall and goes straight to the kitchen. I head the thud of a bottle on the table, the crack of the cap, then the slow glug as liquid spills into a  glass. 

Mum coughs, drags a chair across the floor and sits down.

The smell of cigaretted smoke drifts into the front room, where me and Jay are being quiet. Keeping out of the way until Happy Hour - when the first drink has worked its magic and made her smile again.'

Amazon Summary

Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it's not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he's a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that's when the trouble really starts . . . A compelling thriller filled with some hilarious and surreal moments. Fifteen Days Without a Head is a tender, honest story about family, forgiveness and hope.

**********


On finishing this book, the first question that came to mind was - where the hell has Dave Cousins been hiding?  


This book is fantastic. I loved it from the first word until the last. In fact this book really took me by surprise, because when I first heard about it, I really wasn't sure it would be one for me. How wrong was I? This book made me feel so comfortable and right at home as soon as I entered the Roach household. The story was refreshing and original and kept me entranced all the way through. I found that the  author's writing just sucked me into the story until I felt like an invisible member of the Roach family. 


The story is written in first person from the point of view of Laurence Roach, a lovely teenage boy who is struggling to help his mother with her alcohol addiction and depression. A few pages into the book, she goes AWOL. She had obviously reached the point of no return and disappears without a forwarding address from Laurence's life; leaving him hungry, penniless and in charge of his mischievous little brother, Jay, who has that innocence about him until you upset him  and his feral side is let loose, which will result in a nasty bite! 


This book will play with your emotions. One minute you will be laughing, before tears of sadness sneak up behind you and take your breath away. I honestly didn't know what to expect next as Laurence battled with everyone and everything around him in order to stay at home. I would like to say the ending was magical and happy, but this story is about real life and no one lives like that. 


This is one of the best contemporary novels I have read this year. I would put it up there with My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece.  I want to put this book in every teenager's hand and make them read it, especially the ones who whinge about how their lives suck! Pah! They know nothing. 


I really want to see this made into a TV drama on the BBC! I could just envisage it playing on the screen as I read it. 


My only worry is whether or not Dave Cousins will be able to follow up such a fantastic book. I really hope so!