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Hello I'm Denise Brown, a ghost writer and author of murder / mysteries and thrillers for young adults.
As a child, I was chronically shy, which is bizarre as my dad was a salesman who loved to tell a good story. So, instead I lost myself in books. They were safe adventures. They allowed me to be someone else, someone confident, loud, and brave.
So, when I wasn't reading, I could be found scribbling stories, poems, lists. I would recreate newspaper articles, song lyrics, even the wording on the back of a cereal box. Stories were in my blood, but my creativity was stifled by the constraints I placed around myself in my endeavours to be perfect. Aged 10, a teacher asked the class to write a ghost story. A two-page ghost story - they were quite specific about this minor detail. I started writing, but couldn't fit my story into two pages no matter how hard I tried. I eventually ended up in such a tailspin that I didn't write it at all.
If someone had told me then that I would one day write about characters like me who didn't fit neatly inside a box, I wouldn't have believed them. What's interesting about me, right? But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's room for everyone inside a book. Cherry, one of the main characters from my third book, NO ONE KEEPS A SECRET is shy, reluctant to speak up because she feels safer in the shadows, but she blossoms into someone fierce and strong when her friends need her.
It's this consideration for diverse characters that I will bring to my talks and workshops, along with a sense of fun. If younger students want their detective to wear a tea towel on their head because they don't like the sun, then I'm there for it.
I've attended panel events at CAMP YA in East London and also in Wigtown (Scotland's Book Town).
I live in rural Scotland, but am willing to travel, so please do get in touch if you are interested in me visiting your school.
