Destiny Calling - Now out in Paperback!

As an author best known for adult non-fiction work, people are often surprised to learn that I have written a children's book as well. Having already appeared in eBook format, I'm pleased to announce that Destiny Calling is now available in paperback for just £5 including shipping! 

Aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds, Destiny Calling is a funny, poignant and searingly honest tale of friendship, disability, class and family life, which been compared to the work of Jacqueline Wilson and has received glowing reviews from parents, children and teachers.

Beth, the 10-year-old protagonist of the book is a normal British girl living with her annoying older brother and parents, except for one difference - the family have all had to adapt to Beth's dad being in a wheelchair. This part of the book was inspired by my work as a carer for people with disabilities, especially those with spinal cord injuries.

Dad was in a car crash. I might as well say that now because you'll probably work it out sooner or later. I don't like talking or thinking about the crash, but I suppose I should explain why he's in a wheelchair, otherwise you might think he was one of those people who was always in a wheelchair, but he wasn't. His legs worked fine until the crash two years ago and now they don't work at all.

The characters of Beth and her brother Jez came about from my observations of children dealing with disabilities of a loved one. Adults' first reaction to wheelchairs or physical deformities is to become awkward, stiff and pretend everything is normal. What I liked about the children I met was that they had not yet acquired that ability to mask their reactions to disability. They were completely natural around their loved one and simply treated the wheelchair as another piece of furniture to climb on, hang off and mess around with. It showed me how much we can learn about breaking taboos from children's unfiltered attitudes towards subjects that adults see as off-limits.

Dad can't come into a room quietly or pretend he's not there. . . You can always hear the spoke things on his wheelchair turning or the clank of it going over the doorway.

"Hello darlings," he said, opening his arms. Jez was first into them hugging dad climbing into his lap. Even though he's 12, Jez still loves to climb all over people and with dad he's always got an excuse that is fair though and when I want to sit in his lap he tells Jez to get down. Jez doesn't argue with dad. He cried more than I did when dad was in hospital.

As I clearly remember myself, the hardest part about being ten years old isn't family life, it's school and the horrendous task of trying to fit in. Fearing her classmates' stares and questions about her dad, Beth has withdrawn from socialising and now silently watches her peers having fun without her. The arrival of new girl Destiny disrupts the quiet world that Beth has built for herself; lacking in fear or self-consciousness, Destiny is so different from Beth that she's the perfect person to break through Beth's self-imposed loneliness.

She spent every lunchtime with me, and even when the other girls came over she wouldn't leave me talk to them. She'd chatter away to them perfectly friendly, but would keep one hand on my arm or elbow linked through mine to show she wasn't going anywhere. The girls would hover around, asking her questions sometimes saying a quiet hi to me and finally give up and scuttle back to the group. Every time one of them walked off and she turned back to me, I felt like I'd won a little prize.The prize of being better to spend time with than all those whispering, staring girls with their perfect dads who weren't in wheelchairs.

Destiny opens up a whole new world to Beth, showing her life beyond her comfortable middle-class existence. She becomes the first person Beth confides in about her dad's disability, and Destiny's irrepressible confidence gives Beth the strength to start coming out of her shell again. When the two friends discover an X-Factor-style wish-granting show called Destiny Calling they hatch a plan to appear on it: not to get famous, but to make Beth's dad better...

You can get your copy now for just £5, by:
- using this link
- sending the money via PayPal to catherinescott24@googlemail.com
- emailing the same address for details of how to make a BACS transfer.

So what are you waiting for?!