Northern Highlight - Sarah J Dodd

October 25, 2021

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHTS

Sarah J Dodd

Why did you become a children’s writer?

It was something I always wanted to do from childhood. Apparently, I taught myself to read when I was three years old (though I have no memory of this!) and spent hours lost happily in books. They gave me such pleasure that I knew I wanted to invent my own stories. I went to a fairly progressive primary school, where we were allowed to choose what we did all morning, every morning…so I wrote story after story! They were mostly about animals, even then. As I grew up, I wanted to be able to bring that gift of escape and wonder to other children.

Cover illustrated by Becky Thorns. Published by Firefly, 2021

Tell us about where you live

I live in north Lancashire, not far from the border with Cumbria. I think it’s the perfect place to live because I love to be outdoors and the sea, moors and mountains are all within easy reach. Morecambe Bay is officially an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it really is breathtaking. There is nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.

Where do you write?

I don’t have the luxury of a room of my own, so I have to make do with the dining room table when it’s not in use for family meals! This has been quite tricky during lockdowns, when other people in my house have been working and studying from home, but we have managed to move around each other and find our own spaces. In non-pandemic times, I like to go to a University library not too far from my home – going out to work there and coming back later makes it feel more like a job, and kickstarts my brain into knowing it’s time to write. Plus there are no distractions like household jobs that need doing.

What, for you, is ‘the spirit of the North’?

The North is a place of immense beauty but it can also be harsh. Wild weather, cold winters, rugged landscapes…and a lot of rain! Which means that northern people need that extra grit and resilience, combined with humour and kindness. It’s a place of open skies and low mists, where people say hello on the street and call you ‘love’ in the shops. If you need help, someone will give it, even if they don’t know you.

Has this spirit influenced your work?

Definitely. My books are full of people who struggle, but find comfort in each other and in the nature surrounding them. My debut middle-grade novel, Keeper of Secrets, is set in a fictionalised version of a real village on Morecambe Bay, and the setting is as much a character as the people and animals in it. It took several years from beginning to write it until it reached publication stage. I almost gave up on it several times, but something kept drawing me back and I persevered with finishing it, editing it and trying to find it a home. I didn’t have a plan when I started; I only knew that it took place in this particular location and there would be two children in it. Then there was a newspaper report that a cyclist had seen a lynx there, and the story began to tell itself…

Published by Lion Hudson, 2021, illustrated by Cee Biscoe

Who, for you, are the great northern writers?

Horatio Clare has to be the standout northern writer for me. His honesty, especially when it comes to mental health issues, is raw and refreshing, and the way he writes about weather, the landscape and the messy business of living is less like writing words and more like bleeding onto the page. His children’s book, Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, is exuberant but deeply moving.

If you could be transported to anywhere in the north right now, where would it be?

Probably the West Cumbrian coast, around Ravenglass. The beaches there are spectacular, and there are stunning castles, mountains and intriguing history from Romans to smugglers. Or the other side of the country – North York Moors and coastline, with its similar heritage and rugged landscape, or Northumberland with its vast skies and starry nights. So many amazing places to choose from!

What would you like to see from children’s publishing in the north?

Even more celebration of northern settings and characters who speak as northerners (which doesn’t mean it has to be dialect, but there are many colourful idioms in various parts of the north that can add colour to a story).

What’s your favourite children’s book set in the north?

Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome. I have always loved the Lake District – one of my earliest memories is sitting in a tent on the shores of Coniston Water, drinking hot chocolate from a sturdy orange Tupperware mug and smelling wood smoke and canvas. This book – perhaps lesser known than Swallows and Amazons – sums up the wonder of an adventurous winter there. Perhaps it subconsciously influenced me to write my own winter book!