Linton mum has her first book published

Drawing on inspiration provided by her own experiences as a parent, a Linton writer has published her debut children's book.

Rule No.1: Avoid Trouble, may be 39-year-old Mel Symonds's first book, but she has been writing in various formats since she was ten.

Mel, a science technician at Linton Village College who has lived in Linton with her husband and two daughters, aged ten and six, for six years, explained further.

"I started writing for children when I had my first child.

"When she was a toddler, we would walk along making up stories about the things we could see.

"These would make me laugh and I realised I wanted to stop writing the adult book I had been working on for years and start writing children’s books.

"I started with lots of picture book ideas before I went on to writing chapter books.

"I can’t remember how ‘Rule No.1: Avoid Trouble’ actually came into being what it is today.

"It was an idea that I started to simply write and didn’t stop.

"I then went on to do an online writing course and received some excellent feedback.

"From this course, I changed the name from ‘That Shrinking Feeling’ to ‘Rule No.1: Avoid Trouble’."

The book's illustrations are by Cambridge-based artist Mariya Ali Ameen, described by Mel as 'brilliant and talented".

The story centres on a little girl called Clara, said Mel, who added: "I wanted to create a story that inspires kids to stand up for something that they believe in or that they believe to be wrong.

"Clara learns that sometimes it’s okay to get into trouble when you are doing the right thing and stopping bad things from happening."

The book is available through any bookseller, her publisher's online bookshop and is stocked at Hart’s Books on King Street, Saffron Walden.

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