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Now let me tell you a story...
Finding inspiration in everything you see must be one of the most exciting side-effects of being an author.
To the casual observer there might not be anything too extraordinary about spotting a simple road sign. Yet for Vanessa Curtis it proved to be just what she was looking for as she set out to write her very first children's book.
After seeing a documentary about obsessive compulsive disorder, she'd already found a theme she wanted to explore. But she was in need of a suitably catchy name for her heroine.
And driving through Cornwall one day she found it – Zelah – just staring out at her from the side of the road.
Now her book, Zelah Green, Queen of Clean, has hit the bookshelves and is already earning Vanessa critical acclaim.
The book quickly made it on to Waterstone's Children's Book of the Year 2009 shortlist – an astonishing achievement for a debut novel.
'I couldn't believe it,' says Vanessa, from Emsworth.
'I was so excited just to get on the longlist, but to get on the shortlist with my first children's book was more than I could ever dream of.'
Aimed at the 11-plus market, the book doesn't shy away from covering some of life's most hard-hitting issues.
There's bereavement, abandonment and a wicked stepmother, not to mention the raft of rituals and habits 14-year-old Zelah has developed as part of her OCD. Thousands of people suffer from OCD and just like others afflicted by it, Zelah fears something bad will happen to her if she breaks her routine.
Her particular fear centres around a dislike of dirt, mess and disorder, and following the death of her mother from cancer – and the desertion of her father – her problems only get worse.
'I came up with the
idea after watching a documentary about adults who have OCD,' says Vanessa. 'I was shocked by how extreme the conditions that these people had were.
'I thought this would be a good subject for a book and then I was driving down to Cornwall and saw this place named Zelah and thought: "That's a really good name for a teenage character".'
Vanessa, 41, remembers that the documentary featured a woman who was so afraid of glitter that she couldn't touch anything that might bring her into contact with it.
Zelah's own OCD proves equally debilitating and she finds herself tied to a number of rituals just in order to function.
Vanessa explains: 'Zelah has concerns over washing her hands. She has to scrub her face a certain number of times or she feels something awful is going to happen.'
Zelah's OCD and unsympathetic stepmother eventually see her being carted off to the Forest Hill House, a home for other troubled teens.
And it's there that Zelah finally begins to understand her condition, as she meets other people who have their own life-changing problems, including eating disorders and self-harming.
But despite using OCD as an important character trait, Vanessa is quick to point out that she never intended to write a self-help guide, or instruction manuel for coping with the condition.
'I've never wanted to set out and write a serious issue book,' she says. 'The issue is not the main focus of the novel. I've also used a lot of humour – Zelah's quite dead-pan and she's got funny little quirks. I've tried to keep it quite real and quite witty so children aren't traumatised.
'OCD is not the main part of the book. Hopefully it's a good story about her that children can relate to.'
She adds: 'I did some research. I didn't want to get bogged down in the issue but I read a novel by a teenage boy, called Touch And Go Joe, about this guy who tapped a certain number of times and that inspired me and I did general internet research.
'It would be nice if it has helped people because I didn't want to make it like that and I hope it helps children understand people who are different to them.'
Vanessa wrote the book in around four months and the sequel, Zelah Green, Dating Queen, will be released next January.
After writing a number of books about feminist author Virgina Woolf, Virginia set her mind to penning a novel for children but didn't find success immediately.
'I'd already written a couple that never saw the light of day,' she says. 'It took me between one and two years just to get an agent and then it took another year or so to get a publisher.
'It's not for the faint-hearted, I had many rejections. Even when you've got an agent and got one book published there's no guarantee you'll get another one published.'
Vanessa settled in Emsworth 10 years ago, after meeting her husband, Tim Cowin. 'I come from Ealing in London and my parents still live there,' she says. 'It's extremely different. I much prefer it here. It's nice to have a quiet routine when you're writing.
>> Zelah Green, Queen of Clean is published by Egmont Books Ltd, price 5.99.
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BOOK
We've got five copies of Zelah Green, Queen of Clean, by Vanessa Curtis, to give away.
For your chance to win, simply answer the following question:
The Queen of Clean is also the nickname of which TV presenter who found fame on How Clean Is Your House?
A) Zoe Salmon
B) Michaela Strachan
C) Aggie MacKenzie
You can also enter by e-mail at features@thenews.co.uk, including your name, address and daytime phone number. You can also enter by text. Simply send a text message starting with tncomp curtis, the answer to the question plus your name, house number (or house name) and postcode to 81800. All replied messages cost 60p plus standard network charge. Example of message: tncomp curtis answer john smith 1 po2 9sx. Entries received after the closing date won't be valid and text entries will still be charged. Terms and conditions apply - please see the entry form for details.
Please add the word STOP at the end of your text message or in the subject line of your email if you do not wish to receive the marketing messages mentioned. SMS service is provided by g8wave London N7 9AH.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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