Mitch Johnson: ‘Strike’

Welcome to episode 41, season 3, of the Teacher Book Club Podcast!

This is a recording of our most recent special author chat, with author Mitch Johnson!

This episode is in partnership with Usborne AD | PR

Tara had the pleasure of speaking to brilliant author Mitch Johnson about his new middle grade children’s book, ‘Strike.’ Tara asked our Teacher Book Club questions plus a few extras! It was great hearing all about the ideas behind the book, the messages behind it and the best bits to write. We hope you love listening to it as much as we loved recording it!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Hello and welcome back to Teacher Book Club Podcast. My name is Tara, you may know me as Tara's Teaching, and I'm here today to share with you our latest podcast episode where I have interviewed author Mitch Johnson all about his brand new book Strike. So I have actually had the conversation with him this evening. We did attempt an Instagram live yesterday, which unfortunately did not work. So we have uh had a call this evening, so I have been able to record our chat for the podcast instead. So I'm really excited to share this with you. His book Strike is fantastic. It is about football, and this is a World Cup special episode. Uh, but don't be fooled because I do think that even if you are not a football fan, you will take an awful lot away from this book. It really discusses kind of some real life issues, some really in-depth um problematic issues within the world, and the main character Owen has an awful lot of tricky situations and decisions that he goes through within the story. So I'm going to read you the flip so that you've got a little bit more of an idea of what the story is about. First of all, pick the spot. Three steps back, please. I mean it's closer than ever to achieving his dream. Becoming a professional footballer, all you have to do is stay focused, no distractions, just football. When a hidden note touched inside his new boots reveals a cry for help from the factory workers who made them. Ewing discovered some beautiful game might be hiding some ugly secrets. Suddenly, chasing his dream doesn't feel so important. It's time to decide which path he really wants to take. A story about taking a shot and being brave enough to change the game from the best-selling author of Kick. So it is Mitch Johnson who is the author of the book, and I had a great time chatting to him all about it. So I hope you enjoy listening. Hi Mitch. So I'm really looking forward to talking to you all about your new book, Strike. So I know this is your second book. Is this kind of a series?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

So yes, Strike is the standalone sequel to my debut uh novel, Kick.

unknown 2:26

So it is set in the same world, but it takes place ten years after the finale of Kick. It's a completely different protagonist. It's set in the UK this time, uh, whereas Kick was set in Indonesia. Um I've written it so that even if you haven't read Kick, you can still read Strike and it'll make a total set. Um if you have read Kick, there might be one or two things in there, like little Easter eggs that you you pick up on.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Um but you can read them in either order.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Yeah. Amazing. So did you want to give us maybe a little summary of what Strike is all about?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Sure, so Strike is a book about football.

unknown 3:06

Um, it's not just a book about football, though it's also about family and friendship and the importance of taking a stand.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Uh the main character is a boy called Owen, and his dream is to become a professional footballer, and it looks like that dream might be coming true when he gets scouted by a top-flight academy.

unknown 3:29

And as a reward for this achievement, his dad buys him a brand new pair of football boots. But when Owen opens up this box of boots for the first time, he finds uh a hidden note tucked inside one of the boots, and that's been placed there by the person who made those boots, and it's kind of like a cry for help, I suppose, trying to alert someone to the terrible conditions that this person is being forced to work in, and that is the catalyst for the rest of the story that Owen knows this thing and he has to decide what to do with that information. Um and it's and there's you know a lot of big decisions that he has to make as a result of finding that note, um, and ultimately he has to decide whether he's willing to risk his own dream or jeopardize his own his own future as a footballer for the sake of of people half a world away, um who uh who are you know in need of his of his support. Um so yeah, it's it's it is a football book.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

It's definitely a football book, but there's also a lot going on there as well.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Absolutely, yeah. The story's definitely got a lot of depth, I think, and I kind of went into it thinking it would be just about football, but it's absolutely not, which um I personally loved as a reader, and I think there's a lot of children in my class that are football mad, but I'm this is the kind of book that I would be really happy to share with them because although I know they're gonna be hooked just on the football, I think they're gonna learn a lot from it as well, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Yeah, and that's the the challenge for me is to is you're right about an issue which is is it's quite a complicated issue, uh it's quite a difficult uh issue, uh, but it has to be wrapped up in an adventure that appeals to readers as well.

unknown 5:24

It can't just be a kind of lecture on how we make the world a better place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Um also got a grip the readers as well.

unknown 5:32

But I really like that challenge of we something topical, um something that I think we need to address uh in society.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Yeah, bringing that through a really compelling story.

SPEAKER_02 5:45

Yeah, it's brilliant. So where did the idea come about for the story?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

So both kick and strike can trace their origin back to a time when I worked in a sports shop while I was a student at university, and one day I was at work and someone asked me if they could try a pair of bubble boots, and so I went to the stock room, I found the right boots in the right size, and I opened the box, and inside between this pair of brand new bubble boots, was a piece of rubbish, and it was like an energy gel sachet, the kind of thing you see athletes and sports people using to give themselves a bit of a boost.

unknown 6:27

And at the time I couldn't really process it, you know, I was at work, I had a customer weighting, so I put this rubbish in the day, but it kept coming back to me, and you know, the fact it was an energy gel wrapper suggested that whoever made these boots was doing a really exhausting job. And the fact that I was in with the boots suggested that they were eating while they were working, which in turn kind of suggested that they didn't have enough break time to go and eat properly. Yeah. And so I started looking into how things are made, and I discovered an industry that's quite exploitative, and so I wanted to write a book that would help to r raise awareness for this this issue. Um the more people who know about this kind of thing, the more likely it is that things will change for the better. Yeah. Uh so whereas Kik, um, the protagonist of Kick is a is a boy called Booty who works in a factory in Indonesia that is making boots. Yeah. So Kik is not looking at the people who make the things that we use and wear every day. Yeah um Strike, which is set in the UK, uh is looking a bit more at us as consumers and the role that we have in that relationship.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Because although the people making these things are thousands of miles away, yeah, w we are linked to them through the things that we buy and use and what um and I wanted to try and you know help kids to make that connection.

unknown 7:55

Um it's very, very easy to forget. Uh it's not something that we are at actually going to.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Um it's actually quite an opaque industry, um, a hard one to research if you're writing a book about that kind of thing. Um, so hopefully Kit and Strike will give kids an entry point into thinking about this kind of issue and kind of where the stuff that we use every day comes from.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Yeah, yeah, that's brilliant. Thank you. Okay, so who is your favourite character and why from the story?

SPEAKER_00 8:31

I think it's natural to have an affinity with the main character in the story, especially especially a story written in the first person, because you spend months trying to how they would feel and think and what they would say and how they would react.

unknown 8:46

And Owen has the same dream that I had when I was growing up.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Before I ever liked about becoming a writer, I wanted to be a footballer. Um so I really identified with that childhood dream of his.

unknown 8:59

However, I I would probably say my favourite character in the book is Owen's dad.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

And I realized as I was approaching the end of you know writing strike that I haven't written a book that contains a father figure since I became a father myself. I've got five roles, so I've written three books since I became a father, and none of them feature a father.

unknown 9:22

I don't know if that's because I realized I didn't really know what I was doing. I was learning on the job. But I think Owen's dad is great. Uh he's so supportive, he is funny, um, he's always got a team talk ready, but he's not relentlessly positive. He allows Owen to kind of feel the difficult emotions and he's there for that. So um yeah, although I I I I think I always identify in some way with the main character.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Yeah, I think Owen's dad was for me personally, that was like a new experience to try and you know distill what I think a good father, a good role model is um for someone like Owen.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Yeah, brilliant. I have written exactly that down as well, Owen's dad, who's my favourite character. Um I just think like you exactly as you've said, he's just so supportive, um, but in the right ways, he's you know, that balance of being very honest, I think, with Owen, um, but also, you know, making sure that he's happy in what he's doing, and um I think he's just a really good kind of moral compass for Owen um at different points in the story, and just that emotional support, and I think that's lovely to see that from a father figure. I feel like often in books it's often the mother um that kind of takes on that emotional support role, so yeah, I think it was great um to see kind of that father and son relationship and how yeah, him as a father is supporting Owen.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Yeah, I thought that was great, and I think a lot of children's books, and and I and I've done this too in the books that I've written.

unknown 11:11

One of the things you have to do in a way is get rid of the the caregiver, the parent, yeah, so that the kids can go on the adventure. Of course. Um there are a few books that they're less common where the kind of parental figure facilitates the adventure and is kind of a bit of a bad influence and encourages them to go on go on this journey. And I feel like Owen's dad is is he's there to support Owen, and Owen has to kind of withhold certain things from him when he makes this discovery, when he gets his new booth. Um, and so he's kind of between the two. Like on the one hand, he's there to support Owen, on the on the other hand, Owen is kind of branching out on his own a bit as well. Um, so I I was kind of pretty pleased that I've I found a kind of what felt to me like a fairly new position parental figure to occupy in a book.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Um, but yeah, there's a there's an awful lot of orphans in children's books.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Absolutely.

unknown 12:12

Um way of getting rid of them.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

Yeah. But that must be hard. Yeah, I didn't have to No, no, I definitely think you've got the balance right. Yeah, absolutely. Um so which was your favourite part of the story, and perhaps your favourite part to have written?

SPEAKER_00 12:29

I think writing the the climax of a story is always a lot of fun because you're kind of bringing all these strands together.

unknown 12:39

Um obviously writing a book is quite a long process, and that's the point at which you're kind of getting to the business end of things. However, I didn't even talk about the finale of the book because that would spoil things. So I I will say parts I enjoyed writing the most were the football sequences. I've kind of forgotten, because nine years between uh kick being published and strike being published, I've forgotten how much I enjoy writing football action sequences. And I think that the reason I like so much is because as a kid, I remember like trying to describe to a friend or a brother a goal that I'd seen. It was kind of something that as a kid you would do, like you haven't seen this thing happen. Um, and you're trying to do it justice.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

Oh yeah. And I think it you know, it lends itself so well to kind of pace the action sequences.

unknown 13:32

Um I think uh I like sport for the same reason that I like books, you just don't know what's gonna happen next, and there's this drama and the stakes are high, and there are heroes and villains, and it just writing about football in a book just well, you know, they just they just work as a as an accomplishment. It always surprises me that there isn't a bigger overlap of sporty people and bookish people.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

It was almost like their separate accounts, and like those things are ticking the same boxes to me, so yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

Yeah, hopefully people will find that when they when they read uh Stride.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

I think they definitely will, and I think for children we want books to be fast paced and we want that drama because that's what's gonna you know capture their attention, their imagination, and yeah, I think for those football fans, sporting fans, they are gonna love the fast paced parts, like you say. Yeah, the drama. I think definitely. Um, I think one of my favourite parts was as you talked about the discovery of the notes that Owen finds, um, and then he has um an interview, a TV interview that he has to do after that. And again, going back to dad, I really liked Dad's reaction to that because, as you said, Owen doesn't initially tell his dad anything about this, and then next thing we know, he's being interviewed, and things start to come out. Um, and I think he was then kind of worried about the reaction from it and what other people would think, and even what his dad would think about it. Um, but yeah, I think the way that you've written kind of dad's response to that was perfect because you know he was obviously not angry at all and was, you know, very supportive of Owen, and then throughout, you know, the whole process after that with paparazzi and everyone else wanting to find out more. Um, yeah, I just really I really thought that bit was was brilliant.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah, and it's it was kind of it Owen's dad is is finding his way too. I think sometimes it's tempting to think of parents as knowing everything, but I like kids, you know, they they they uh I think appreciate the honesty of a parent who's like I don't quite know what next or how we should respond. Um and I think that's really refreshing when you have a parent that can be honest in that way with you. Um because you can try and disguise about you don't know what you're doing or you don't know what happens next, but I think kids just sense it even if they can't put their finger on exactly what's going on, there's just something, you know, they're very good readers of emotions and uh and and and vibes.

unknown 16:15

So um yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

I'm I'm I'm I'm glad that it that that I mean staff has kind of come through so well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Definitely. And I think, yeah, like I mean that's a very unique situation, so them learning how to navigate what's gonna happen next together, um, yeah, is very honest, which yeah, I think is great. So do you have a favourite quote from the book?

SPEAKER_00 16:43

So uh yeah, I I I I I think I do.

unknown 16:47

There's to contextualise this quote, I've got I've got a copy of the book here, so I'll I'll um Owen's dad himself was on the trajectory to become a professional footballer. Uh but unfortunately he he sustained uh kind of an injury that prevents him from carrying on with with that career. And that's obviously something he's had to deal with. Um but this this quote here is him reflecting on the effect or the all the consequence of him of him getting injured. Yeah um because as part of his rehabilitation he uh was looked after by a nurse and that nurse was in the future gonna be Owen's mother. Uh so i this is kind of a quintessential Owen's dad's team talk uh coming up. Without that injury, I wouldn't have met mum.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

And if I hadn't met mum, then I wouldn't have you. You are everything.

unknown 17:50

When I look back, I realize that everything I did to become a footballer, I was actually doing to get to this point here, to you. So I think you've got to keep going. Because who knows where your path leads? Who knows what future you're training for? And I just really love that sentiment of you don't know where your life will take you.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

And even with the best intentions, you know, you might not get to the point that you ex or wanted to get to when you set out or you expected to get to, but equally weight uh one might be very different, but just as good or even better. Um, you know, I I think about about ten years ago I applied to do a creative writing MA and I didn't get on.

unknown 18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

And I was I was, you know, kind of really devastated because I that was for me the step in my tone towards becoming uh an author.

unknown 18:45

Yeah. But if I'd got on to that MA, I would have had to abandon the book I was working on because they didn't have any um capacity for children's literature, it was it was for kind of writing battles, this MA. And the book I was working on was KIP. So if I'd got on the MA, I probably wouldn't have been with KIT, which meant it means that Kit when it was published, which means the strike when it got published. So even sometimes when you get a setback, it's about you know moving on from that is far more important than the the setback itself. Um so yeah, that I mean I feel like Owen's there's very wise, not in a kind of you know, uh ostentatious kind of way. He he uh you know, I feel like he's had some life experiences that have given him perspective.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Definitely uh and that that uh allows him to be a pretty good mentor to Owen.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

Yeah, definitely. I think he's just he's realistic, isn't he? And although he knows this is, you know, Owen's hopes and dreams and was once his as well, he is still yeah, realistic about, like you say, things that might change in your life. Who knows what's coming around the corner. Yeah, it's a good quality.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

He's he's supportive, encouraging, but also uh you know uh things that things you he holds things lightly, you know, he kind of knows that things can change and that you're not always in control of that change. So um it's good it's good to be someone who can adapt.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Yeah, definitely. So I have got a favourite quote. Mine is from Booty, and again, it's a great kind of motivational quote. So he says, You must not lose hope, Owen, change will come, giants can be toppled, dragons can be defeated. I really liked that, and I think again, that's just great for kids to read, and those the kind of yeah, the references to giants and dragons, I think is really nice.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean, and obviously it's it was r it was so nice to bring Booty back in to the to this story, uh, because so many kids at school they want to know what happens next.

unknown 20:58

And it was like without but until I've written strike, as like you you have to make your mind up, you know, do we live in the kind of world where Booty's dreams might come true? So it was really nice to reintroduce him in strike.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Um and yeah, and he's obviously got uh his life has given him perspective and um he kind of becomes a I don't know, maybe like an older brother figure, I suppose.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yeah, it's great, and for him to then you know say that to Owen, like you say, it's like he's then an inspiration to Owen, which is really lovely. Yeah. So my next question is what would you like readers to kind of remember from the book and take away from it?

SPEAKER_00 21:42

So I think Owen has lots of really difficult decisions to make. You know, he finds this no, and you know, the impulse is to try and do something with it, but you know, he's just been recruited by a top flight team, and there's a lot of money in football and there are potentially people you'd upset if you, you know, were to speak out about an issue within football.

unknown 22:07

Um to not speak out is to kind of betray the person who's hidden is no to speak out is to kind of betray his teammates and his club. So there's no a real clear route.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

So I think I what I would love readers to take from this is the kind of courageous, brave decisions are not normally they're not made by people who are fearless or brave or courageous. They're made by people who are uncertain and who are scared and who don't know what to do for the best but they do what they think is right anyway.

unknown 22:41

That's that's where kind of bravery comes from a place of fear or uncertainty and trying to do what's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

So I think understanding that because there are so many occasions throughout life where you don't feel ready or you don't feel like you're qualified or you don't feel like you know absolutely what to do next but that will always be the case like throughout life.

unknown 23:08

You've just got to do what you think is best and try and act with integrity and in a way that is in line with your kind of values and your your beliefs.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

And from that hopefully good things will will happen.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Yeah definitely yeah and I think yeah Owen is an inspirational character and I think children will take a lot from him and yeah his journey throughout the story and those ups and downs yeah definitely so my next question is if you could hear the story from a different character's point of view who would you like to hear it from I think probably Teddy who is owing best advantage.

unknown 23:54

He also gets uh scouted by the same uh academy so they join this academy together.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Teddy is a bit of a rascal um he is a character he's a gogger he adds a lot of lightness to the book especially when things are getting a little bit heavy and um a bit difficult he's a a friend you can rely on but also a friend to kind of it's quite an uplifting presence as well so I think I would like to hear from Teddy's perspective because you know he he is a supporting character to to Owen.

unknown 24:36

Yeah um but equally he's had his own journey to this point. He has his own dreams and aspirations um I think as well sometimes people who are very funny and kind of gregarious sometimes uh unmasking something yeah it's I you know they're they're putting on a performance because there's a certain vulnerability to them. Um and I think it'd be really interesting to explore that if if the book were told from Teddy's perspective we would have a bit more which we'd see a bit more of what's beneath the surface.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

There was a comment just like we want more Teddy brilliant yeah Teddy um which which was great fun to do. He's he's one character to hear the story from if there was another perspective.

SPEAKER_02 25:36

Yeah definitely yeah I liked his cheekiness to be honest I think it would also be interesting to hear from Owen's dad's perspective as well and I think because I'd like to hear more about his backstory and you know yeah how he was obviously trying to be a professional footballer himself and yeah like you say his injury meeting Owen's mum all of that I'd be interested in hearing that side of things but also then him navigating life as a single dad and then obviously yeah helping and supporting Owen through his football career. I think there'd be lots lots of great things to hear from him I'll I'll I'll I'll get to work. Yeah book three please be great so have you got any children's books that you could recommend to us yes I definitely um the first one I recommend is a book called Keeper by Mal Pete which is sticking with the football theme.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Brilliant I be wonderful wonderful writer so many books you know I I'm quite free with my books I do I do let them out I do give them away but Mal Pete books stay on the show. They're books I know that I'm gonna want to reread in a few years' time. Yeah um Keeper is the story of El Gato who's a kind of legendary goalkeeper and he's just won the World Cup and the book is told in the form of an interview. So a sports journalist is interviewing him and his life story and he grew up in a kind of bull community in South America um on the edge of the rainforest which is being kind of destroyed you know before his eyes yeah and it's the story of who taught him how to be a world class goalkeeper and it I don't know it is unlike any other sport novel football book um it's got two twists at the end.

unknown 27:46

Obviously I'm not gonna tell you what either of them are but there's a twist. No way and then there's another twist and you just like reading on the first you get another one. But Keeper by Mel P if you if you want another football book to read after you've read strike and there's but he's actually got three in in that kind of they're they're connected they have the same journalist in each one. Brilliant yeah but yeah keep keeper is the is the one to start with and then there's also uh another one called the penalty and one called Exposure uh they're all really good but I I would start with keeper um it's yeah it's it's fantastic. Amazing but you don't just have to read football books um I want to want to point out uh I mean I I everyone loved Captain Rundle it seems oh yeah I'm gonna just add to that people and I don't like every every book of hers is just magical exquisitely written and intelligent and funny and humane.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Impossible creatures which is kind of fantasy yes it's just wonderful it it's you know about this archipelago this this group of islands where all the creatures from mythology still exist and uh it's about a girl called Mal and another Mal we've gone from Mal Peter Mal the main and Christopher and it's uh it's just so beautifully written um I actually think the second book in the series The Poison King is even better than the first one which I didn't think is possible.

unknown 29:33

Yeah proven wrong so I am really excited for the third book which is Never Fear and that's coming out in two months time in August um so I can't wait to read that um and then finally one more one more recommendation is one that's really special to me personal to me uh and that is the Phantom toll booth by Norton Juster um when I was 12 I borrowed the Phantom toll booth from my school library yeah and I loved it so much that the librarian let me keep the library copy so I've still got the school library copy.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Wow oh my word that I borrowed all those years ago um it's just this amazing adventure story in the kingdom of wisdom which is like a land of words and numbers it's about a very bored boy called Milo who just ends up going on this adventure to this amazing place.

unknown 30:30

It's full of eccentric characters and fantastical landscapes and really cool concepts like Infinity and riddles it's it's a lot like Alice's adventures in Wonderland.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Yeah.

unknown 30:42

But it's even weirder.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Wow didn't that was possible yeah I know I absolutely loved it it's got these kind of scratchy illustrations in it that are kind of strange and nightmarish um it's it's fantastic and yeah I still got my school library to be it's one of my most prized possessions and it was one of the books I think that made me think about being a writer one day. Yeah yeah wouldn't it be cool if one day I could write a book that yeah made someone feel all the things that they could be making me feel um wow those I mean I I could go on but those those my three that I'm gonna be doing the time amazing I know three is limiting I realise thank you though that's brilliant um so obviously we are teacher book club so we are teachers and we teach children writing every day so do you have any tips for us to kind of support children with their writing?

SPEAKER_00 31:42

Yeah I I would say one of the most important things especially as a teacher is to just give kids completely free reign over what they write.

unknown 31:54

The thought of m having to write a book that I I'm not interested in I don't I don't think I could do it. No. Um and so I think when you tell someone that they can write about whatever they want not only are they a lot more likely to see it through or keep coming back to it and adding to this story because they've got that interest in the in the idea it's I think probably going to be higher quality than something that they're not particularly interested in because they've got the expertise potentially or they've got the interest, they've got the passion and that kind of thing just shines through definitely creative writing. So um that would be that would be probably the the main thing I would recommend is just giving kids freedom. And also you know a lot of what they learn at school but like is to a curriculum they don't get much choice in what they are taught and so to be told you can do whatever you want and if you want to add illustrations it's gonna be a a book like fantastic it's all it's all good stuff. So that would be kind of like my top tip and also I remember really hating messy page as a kid and crossing things out but great writing is is is the time to start crossing things out and scribbling things in and you know all all that you know im impressing upon kids that it does not have to be perfect. No. It won't be it won't be right first time your favourite writers don't get it right first time in fact most of their time spent trying to make a rubbish first draft look like they knew what they were doing along.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

It's all in the edits it's all in the rewriting um so I think that's really important to to communicate as well because so much you know everything's so polished nowadays everything's so glossy everything's you know got filters and photoshops and it's sometimes hard to believe that things ever start out as a kind of mediocre first draft that you have to revise it and work it to get it um into its best form. So th they would be my kind of my top tips I think.

SPEAKER_02 33:59

Yeah that's brilliant um thinking about kind of yeah children wanting to write about things that you know they enjoy and things that they like we went on a whole school trip to the beach on Friday and so then this week I said right now just write about it you know you can choose how you write it it might be a story it could be like a diary entry you know it could be like you say a comic strip anything and they absolutely loved it and they've gone to town and they've all produced incredible pieces of writing and like I say it's because they enjoyed it they had a great day there it's a it's like their own personal experience as well that they have then they can relate to and even if you give them the same writing prompt you will get 30 different stories. Exactly that's really like when I do creative writing workshops like I'm always interested in well I give them like total freedom where they go and then I go in the room and I'm like oh wow you you're writing this horror story you're you know you're this kind of cutie animal adventure of course yeah they look it's just amazing to see where they go when they're given the freedom to definitely yeah absolutely yeah and I do think um I mean obviously we're restricted in schools with the curriculum fitting everything in but I do think it's so important to give children that time to write for pleasure and and enjoy it so it's not prescriptive yeah definitely so my final question is what have you got coming up next? Are you writing at the moment is there anything for us to look forward to so I'm currently in the middle of a fairly epic promotional tour for strike.

unknown 35:44

Amazing I'm not getting a lot of writing done however before I embarked on this tour um I did submit an early draft of something to my agent which is a complete swerve for me. It's something that like I I've never really tried to write before I don't know if we'll ever see the light of day uh you know I uh it would take my agent to like it and then a publisher to like it um what I could tell you about it is that it's uh historical mystery.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

So um yeah it I've I've I all my stuff has been kind of contemporary and and open explored kind of environmental humanitarian issues.

unknown 36:25

Yeah this would be a complete departure from what's gone before um again this is tying to what we just talked about I'm just following my interests I have a particular interest in this time period and this particular person that time period. Brilliant and so I've that and hopefully what I've written you know will will be uh will be picked up by a publisher. You don't really until you write it and then appraise whether it's whether it's got anything uh so I've got I I've kind of got that which is I suppose a work in progress I'm not sure where that'll go next. Yeah. Um I would also really like to write a ghost story and I keep I keep putting it off.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I keep you know in like now in summertime uh I think oh I should wait till it's winter and it's dark and then I can I really get the atmospheric you know I can look yeah and then it gets the reaper and then I'm like I'm too scared. I want it to be light when I write it. Yeah it's I never got around to it by I I've realized I never thought I liked horror and then I was speaking to someone recently and realised that actually I do read quite a lot of stuff that's quite spooky quite scary.

unknown 37:34

I actually as a kid I absolutely loved um The Ghost of Thomas Kemp by Penelope Lively I love that book as a kid. I don't know that that I don't know I I I it's like the kind of being scared.

SPEAKER_00 37:49

Yeah but it's a thrill it's a thrill isn't it and um yeah I think to write something like that would be a really interesting exercise because you're kind of ramping everything you write oil or something skip you're kind of dialing up the tension to its maximum yeah um so that would be I would be quite interested to do that. So we'll see we'll see whether I ramp out again winter or if or start now start now during a heat wave could be more different the days will get shorter and I'll be forced to write a a paper.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

But yeah that's that's potentially in the future but yeah exciting amazing well yeah we look forward to yeah seeing what what what happens what gets published very exciting though amazing well thank you ever so much for talking to me it's been brilliant and like I say I'm gonna definitely be taking the book into my classroom sharing it with all the football fans and yeah thank you very much no thank you for your time it's been a real pleasure chatting thank you yeah you're welcome I'll stop the recording there. There we go that was my chat with author Mitch Johnson from this evening. I had a great time talking to him all about the book so I really hope you enjoyed listening and if you want to grab a copy definitely do. I do really recommend it. Like I say even if you are not a football fan or even if you have children in your class are not necessarily football fans I do think that there's a lot that they will enjoy about this book of fast pace and kind of yeah those real life real world issues I think children will take a lot from these books. So thank you again for listening and please do uh subscribe to our podcast if you haven't already feel free to leave us a star rating we would really appreciate that and I will be sharing another episode very soon keep watching our Instagram lives as well um there are different authors that we are speaking to almost weekly at the moment so please do tune in and check those out I thank you so much and I will see you very soon