I hadn’t quite realised at the time that my book was so different to most other children’s books being published at the moment, and it was especially wonderful to get such encouraging feedback so early on. I think my favourite is what Barry Cunningham (who founded Chicken House) first said to me, when he called to tell me I’d been shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House prize – he described it as ‘a breath of fresh air’. What’s the favourite reaction you’ve had to your book? Yes – my writing playlist is about as incoherent as a playlist can be, but I’m very happy to share it! Do you have a writing playlist? If so do you want to share it? But from originally having the idea to the book being published has taken almost five years – although that is partly due to delays thanks to Covid.
After that it gets very hazy, between the rewrite and subsequent edits. The first draft took precisely one month – I can be sure because I completed it during National Novel Writing Month. I was shortlisted for that competition, but before I could be too disappointed about not winning, Chicken House got in touch to ask if I’d like to work on a rewrite with them – naturally I jumped at the chance! Having completed that rewrite, Chicken House then made me an offer.ĭandy the Highway Lion How long did it take to write? I think I was actually very lucky! I entered Dandy in the Times/Chicken House Competition before I’d got very far with looking for agents (and then promptly forgot I’d done so). How hard was it to get your first (debut) book published? Wodehouse, and to share its warmth, nostalgia and plain old fun with a younger audience. I did make the conscious choice to set his story in 1920s London, though, largely because I wanted to write in the world of P. Once I had that concept, I knew I had to write it – the idea was too much fun to resist! What came first the characters or the world?ĭefinitely the character of Dandy! Everything else formed around him.
I immediately thought that had to be a lion, and that such a lion should be a highwayman, thanks to the Adam and the Ants Song Stand and Deliver (‘I’m the dandy highwayman who you’re too scared to mention’). My husband and I were tossing around ideas and came up with the name Dandy Paws. The original idea came from a very obvious pun – Dandy-lion. Twitter: Tell me what inspired you to write your debut novel?
After studying English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, she stumbled, semi-intentionally, into life aboard a boat, where she now lives with her husband, two spoilt cats (rescued while sailing in Spain), and several visiting swans. Stephanie Sorrell Stephanie’s first children’s novel, Dandy the Highway Lion, was shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Competition in 2020, and will be published by Chicken House on the 2nd March.
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