It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you want to make a difference then all that matters is whether you have the drive and desire to fulfil the task that counts.

My first novel Atlantic Split is part of the Luke Bright series which is a young adult book series, recommended for ages 15+. The reason why I chose to write for a young adult audience is because when I was that age, it was reading that inspired me to become a writer – it’s the age where you realise who you want to be.

Young people have to deal with a lot of new experiences in the transition from childhood to adulthood. Forming their own opinions, becoming individuals, learning what the adult world is really like. However, often young people are portrayed in a negative light and ridiculed by older generations – don’t even get me started on the terms ‘snowflake’ and ‘millennial.’

It can be scary, being young and fearing the adult world is already against you. Seeing the world you’re growing up in become something that you can’t understand or comprehend, and feeling helpless because you want it to change. That’s why I chose to write a book series that could inspire others and make the world a better place to live in. A book that could change the lives of young people, just as reading books changed my life too. The books you read are such a crucial part of who you become. That’s probably why To Kill A Mockingbird has been taught in schools – it’s such an influential text and certainly inspired me when writing Atlantic Split. I knew that if I was going to commit to writing a book, I’d want to write a book that mattered.

However, when I begun writing Atlantic Split, I thought that a war between the UK and the USA, the two most powerful nations in the world, was improbable. I didn’t know that in 2016, it wasn’t a divide between the nations that would occur, it would be divisions between their own populations. The UK voted for Brexit and the USA put Donald Trump into power. The decisions split the countries in two with their own populations, and the results that occurred were both expected to be the minorities. Instead these two decisions became reality. Two decisions which many young people were opposed to because they would encourage insularity to spread, taking the world backwards.

Even though Atlantic Split is set in an alternate reality, it has never been more relevant than now.

My lead character wants to change the world and eliminate prejudice which are bold tasks for a nineteen year old to take on. I want people to be inspired by his acts and realise that it doesn’t matter if you’re made feel insignificant or you don’t feel as though you’re old or knowledgable enough to change things. There’s bound to be hundreds or thousands of people who feel just the same, and it only takes one person to take a stand. One person to stand up and say they want to make a change and together, if enough people agree, young people can be a force to be reckoned with. They just have to believe that they can. After all, doesn’t the world deserve it?

Atlantic Split is the first book in The Luke Bright Series and will be available to purchase in early 2018. Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below for more updates on when the book will be released and where you can purchase a copy. Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.