Author Interview with MissFit Writes, Author of I Did Not Survive, I Just Refused To Stop

 28th October 2026

What does it mean to survive when the world has already decided who you should be? In I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop: The Extraordinarily Abnormal Life of an Average Desi Muslim Girl, debut author MissFit Writes explores the complicated realities of identity, faith, family expectations and the search for selfhood. Moving seamlessly between personal narrative, poetry, essays, humour and cultural commentary, she examines the pressures placed on South Asian Muslim women to conform, from beauty standards and marriage expectations to the often-blurred boundaries between cultural tradition and religious belief. Honest, irreverent and deeply reflective, this is a book that makes room for contradiction, allowing grief and laughter, belonging and alienation, to exist side by side.

Writing under a pen name, the Pakistani author based in Dubai has taken an independent path into the literary world, building her debut's international presence without a traditional publishing background or an established audience. Her work challenges readers to reconsider what resilience really looks like, offering a powerful distinction between simply enduring hardship and refusing to lose oneself in the process. With early recognition from readers and literary reviewers, and a growing presence in libraries and international reading communities, I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop invites a conversation that reaches far beyond the page. We spoke to MissFit Writes about the experiences and ideas behind her book, the courage to question inherited expectations without abandoning one's faith, and what it means to reclaim the right to define yourself on your own terms.

MissFit Writes

Tell us a little about your book?

I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop. — The Extraordinarily Abnormal Life of an Average Desi Muslim Girl is a little bit of everything: personal narrative, essays, poetry, humour, observations and things we usually think about but don't necessarily say out loud.

It looks at what happens when you're expected to be a good daughter, a good woman, a good Muslim, a good wife — basically, good at being whoever everyone else wants you to be. It questions the things we've accepted as normal, especially when culture gets passed off as religion and women are expected to adjust, compromise and keep quiet.

There are no ten steps to fixing your life here. Just words, questions, a little sarcasm, and a woman who has a few things to say.

Why did you choose your pen name? Is it necessary for you to use it?

I chose MissFit Writes because of what the word represents, and what I've chosen to make of it. Misfits are often labelled socially awkward, outsiders, people who don't belong, don't fit in, and are sometimes scorned, unseen or unheard because they don't conform. But I've always wondered: what if the problem isn't the misfit, but the fit they're expected to squeeze into? Why is it always the person who doesn't fit who is expected to change? So, I'm reclaiming the word. I'm a proud MissFit, and I'd rather question the boxes than spend my life trying to fit into them.

As for whether a pen name is necessary, I prefer to keep my writing identity separate from my private life. I'm not looking to become a public personality. I'd rather the focus stay on my words, my ideas and the conversations they start.

Of course, my legal name is attached to the necessary paperwork, and if I need to disclose it in the future, I'm perfectly fine with that. For now, I choose to keep that distinction. You don't need to know my face to know what I have to say.

I DID NOT SURVIVE
 I JUST REFUSED TO STOP

When did you first get involved in writing?

 I don't have a dramatic story about how I became a writer, or a lifelong plan that finally came together. I think it started with being a woman who had a lot to say and eventually decided to stop keeping it all in her head. I've always had observations, questions and opinions about the world around me, particularly the things we're expected to accept without questioning.

At some point, writing became the way to get those thoughts out of my head and onto paper. One thing led to another, and eventually, those words became a book.

What got you interested in this subject in the first place?

I think it comes from watching how many things we are expected to accept simply because “that's how things are done.” How culture gets mixed up with religion, how traditions become rules, how questioning any of it can make you difficult, rebellious or a bad. I was interested in the contradictions — the things we preach versus the things we practise, the things we tell women versus the lives we expect them to live.

And the more I observed, the more I felt that some things needed to be questioned, some conversations needed to happen, and some things needed to be said out loud. Not because I have all the answers, but because I'm not particularly good at pretending I don't see the questions.

What drives you to write?

 Curiosity, observation — and probably an inability to leave certain things alone.

I notice things, question things, and sometimes get thoroughly irritated by things people have decided are perfectly normal and therefore beyond questioning. Writing gives me somewhere to put all of that. I'm not writing because I think I have the answers or because I want to tell people how to live their lives. I write because some things deserve to be questioned, some voices deserve to be heard, and silence isn't always the more comfortable option. Besides, if a thought refuses to leave me alone, it might as well earn its keep on paper.

What are the best and worst things about being a writer in this field?

 The best part is being able to say things that people might be thinking but don't always feel comfortable saying out loud. If something I've written makes someone question an assumption, see something differently, or feel a little less alone in their thoughts, that's worth it. I also love the freedom to move between humour, poetry, essays and uncomfortable questions without having to stay in one neat little box.

The worst part? Some people are far more comfortable with familiar narratives than with questions that challenge them. When you write about women, religion, culture and expectations, it's easy for people to assume they already know what you're going to say before they've actually read it.

Nuance doesn't always make for a convenient label, and a book that doesn't fit neatly into a category can be harder to explain or sell. But then, fitting neatly into categories was never really my thing. It would be rather hypocritical to start worrying about it now.

Can you describe your writing process?

 I'm not particularly methodical about it. I don't have a fixed word count, a strict schedule or a magical corner where creativity politely shows up at the appointed hour.

Sometimes a thought, an observation or a question sticks with me, and I start writing. Other times, I sit down with an idea and discover halfway through that what I wanted to say isn't quite what I needed to say. I write, revisit, rearrange, cut things out and occasionally put them back in again.

My book moves between essays, poetry, humour, observations and shorter pieces, so the process changes depending on what I'm working on. I don't force everything into the same shape just because it would make the writing process more organised. The structure has to serve the writing, not the other way around.

What themes do you find yourself returning to in your work?

I write about things and questions that refuse to stay quiet in my head — contradictions, human behaviour, the things we accept without questioning and the things we choose to ignore even when we probably shouldn't.

Sometimes it's something that makes me angry, sometimes something that makes me laugh, and sometimes it's simply something that doesn't quite add up. I'm curious about why we behave the way we do, why we hold on to certain beliefs, and why we sometimes find it easier to look away than to question what's right in front of us. My interests aren't confined to one subject, and I don't want my writing to be either. If something makes me think, question, observe or rant, there's always a chance it'll find its way onto a page.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

 I hope readers come away feeling a little less alone in their contradictions. That they don't have to fit neatly into cultural, religious, social or personal expectations to be worthy of belonging. I want them to question the narratives they've inherited, make peace with the parts of themselves they've been taught to hide, and recognise that faith, identity, and belonging can be complicated without being any less meaningful.

Above all, I hope readers understand that survival doesn't always look heroic, healing isn't always linear, and refusing to stop doesn't mean you have to emerge unscarred. Sometimes, simply continuing to question, feel, laugh, grieve and exist on your own terms is an act of defiance. If the book gives someone permission to be imperfectly, unapologetically themselves, I'll consider that meaningful.

What challenges have you faced as an author, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge has been discovering that publishing a book and being an author are apparently two entirely different jobs, and nobody thought to tell me. You think you've figured something out, tick it off your list, and then three more things pop up. You fix one problem, another appears. You solve that, and suddenly you discover there's an entirely new thing you didn't know existed, which you apparently should have known about. It's like falling into a wormhole with no exit sign. One minute you're figuring out distribution, the next you're dealing with metadata, library catalogues, book databases, international retailers, publicity, marketing, and approximately seventeen other things you didn't know were your responsibility.

There's a lot of “Oh. I missed this.” Followed by “Wait, this exists?!” And eventually, “What the hell am I doing?”

I've dealt with it by learning as I go, researching whatever new mystery has landed on my desk, and figuring things out one at a time. There's no grand strategy or secret formula. Just Google, a stubborn streak, and the inability to leave a problem alone until I've at least tried to solve it. I wouldn't say I've mastered the process. I've simply reached the point where discovering yet another thing I don't know has become a fairly regular part of the job. Apparently, the learning never ends. Neither, it seems, does the to-do list.

How did you choose the title for your book, and what significance does it hold for you?

The title came from the distinction between surviving something and simply refusing to stop living, questioning, growing or becoming. I Did Not Survive. I Just Refused To Stop. isn't meant to be a neat, inspirational slogan about overcoming adversity. I'm not particularly interested in wrapping complicated experiences in a motivational quote and calling it a day. Sometimes you don't emerge from things triumphant, healed or transformed into some shinier version of yourself. Sometimes you just keep going, in whatever shape you happen to be in.

The subtitle, The Extraordinarily Abnormal Life of an Average Desi Muslim Girl, adds another layer of irony. We're so busy trying to be normal, acceptable and everything everyone expects us to be that we rarely stop to ask who decided what normal looks like in the first place. The title felt right because it leaves room for contradiction, imperfection and a little irreverence.

 And, as it turns out, I'm rather fond of questioning things that sound perfectly straightforward until you look at them a little more closely.

Were there any themes or messages you consciously set out to explore in this book?

 I wasn't trying to write a book that neatly delivers a message, ties everything up and sends everyone home with a lesson. I wanted to question the things we inherit without examining them — the expectations we place on women, the difference between faith and culture, the rules we follow because “that's how it's always been done,” and the contradictions we somehow learn to live with.

I wanted to look at identity, belonging, grief, beauty, marriage and all the other things that make up human experience, sometimes seriously and sometimes with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

But I wasn't setting out to tell readers what to think or hand them a list of conclusions. I'd rather ask questions than prescribe answers. If someone finishes the book questioning something they previously accepted without a second thought, or simply sees a familiar situation from a different angle, I'll consider that a good outcome. I don't need everyone to agree with me. I'd just like people to think for themselves.

What one thing would you change about the publishing industry?

I'd change the way independent authors are treated and the assumptions made about their books before anyone has actually read them. I've had doors slammed in my face simply because my book is self-published, as though the publishing route automatically determines the quality of what's inside. Then there's the expectation that an independent author should somehow be an expert in everything — writing, editing, cover design, marketing, distribution, publicity — and preferably produce a world-class cover while mastering Canva in the process. And once you've managed all that, someone asks you to define your genre. Well, what happens when your book doesn't fit neatly into one? Does that make the book the problem, or does it mean the categories are too restrictive?

I understand that publishing is a business, and I understand why presentation, marketing and categorisation matter. But I'd love to see more openness towards books that don't arrive with a big publisher's name attached, a substantial marketing budget or a perfectly marketable label. Self-publishing doesn't automatically make a book good, just as traditional publishing doesn't automatically make one brilliant. Read the book. Judge the writing. Decide whether it works for you. But at least give it that chance. I'd like the industry to make a little more room for the work itself, rather than deciding what it's worth before it's even opened.

 I DID NOT SURVIVE. I JUST REFUSED TO STOP

is available in e-book and paperback from

AMAZON UK

You can also purchase or find out more using the links below:

Website: https://missfitwrites.carrd.co/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253953787

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/MissFit-Writes

Linktr.ee: https://linktr.ee/missfit.writes

________________________________________________________

If you are a published, (or self-published), author, and would like to be the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us at:

contact@brindlebooks.co.uk

Put the words ‘Interview request’ in the subject header, and tell us a little about yourself in the message. If your book is available online, please paste a link to it in the message. We’ll get back to you with further details and some interview questions.

Brindle Books Author Interview with Christian Meddelton, Author of Dreamwalkers

 23rd October 2026

What if the greatest scientific discovery in human history offered humanity not just a glimpse of the impossible, but an escape from a world in decline? In Dreamwalkers, Christian Meddelton blends science fiction, thriller and philosophical intrigue to explore one of the most enduring mysteries of human existence: the nature of consciousness itself. When British soldier Nathan Reeves encounters an extraordinary world of green hills, warm rivers and two suns, what initially appears to be a miraculous discovery raises profound questions about reality, belief and the future of humanity. Set against a backdrop of environmental deterioration, the novel asks what might happen when the promise of something better becomes too powerful to resist.

Christian Meddleton

Nearly twenty years in the making, Dreamwalkers combines an ambitious scientific premise with the deeply human experiences of grief, loyalty, hope and the desire to believe. Meddelton is as interested in the people caught up in extraordinary events as he is in the mysteries themselves, creating characters whose relationships and difficult choices give the story its emotional depth. Through his independent publishing imprint, JensonPanda, he has brought this long-developed vision to life, inviting readers to question not only what science might one day reveal, but also how humanity might respond. In our interview, Meddelton discusses the origins of his fascination with consciousness, the challenges of building a believable alternative world, the complexities of writing morally ambiguous characters, and the questions he hopes will stay with readers long after they turn the final page.

Tell us a little about your book?

Where does consciousness really exist? When British soldier Nathan Reeves experiences an impossible world, a discovery emerges that could change humanity forever. As Earth deteriorates, this beautiful new realm begins to look like salvation. But nobody truly understands what they've found. DREAMWALKERS is a science-fiction thriller about grief, hope and how far humanity will go for the promise of something better.

DREAMWALKERS BY CHRISTIAN MEDDLELTON

What got you interested in this subject in the first place?

I've always been fascinated by the question of consciousness. We understand an extraordinary amount about the brain, but the experience of being conscious—of being you—is still something that raises enormous questions.

The idea behind DREAMWALKERS began nearly twenty years ago. I kept coming back to one possibility: what if consciousness wasn't quite what we assumed it was? What if there were something fundamental about it that science hadn't yet discovered?

I didn't want to write a textbook disguised as a novel. I wanted to take that question, build a compelling thriller around it, and explore what such a discovery might actually do to people and society.

How do you develop your characters?

For me, a big scientific idea is only interesting if it has consequences for real people.

Nathan Reeves is central to DREAMWALKERS because he's not a scientist trying to make a groundbreaking discovery. He's a soldier with relationships, loyalties, fears and a life that becomes entangled with something he never went looking for.

His relationship with his brother Danny was particularly important. I wanted them to feel like brothers you'd actually meet—taking the piss out of one another, arguing about stupid things, and having conversations that mean more than either of them would admit.

Those relationships give the larger story its emotional weight. No matter how extraordinary the world becomes, the characters still have to feel human.

Were there any themes or messages you consciously set out to explore in this book?

The central question concerns consciousness, but as the story developed, I became increasingly interested in belief.

People want answers. We want to believe there's something beyond what we can see and understand, particularly when we're confronting grief, mortality or a future that looks increasingly uncertain.

DREAMWALKERS also explores the relationship between science, faith and political power. What happens when an extraordinary discovery changes not just what we know, but what millions of people desperately want to believe?

I haven't tried to tell readers what they should think. I'd much rather give them a story that leaves them questioning their own assumptions.

How do you approach world-building in your writing, particularly in genres like fantasy or science fiction?

I think the most important thing is making the extraordinary feel believable.

The world at the centre of DREAMWALKERS has warm rivers, green hills and two suns. It sounds beautiful, almost impossibly peaceful. But I didn't want it to feel like a fantasy landscape that exists simply because the author says it does. I wanted the characters to approach it as something real, something they could study, question and attempt to understand.

Equally important was the world they'd be leaving behind. DREAMWALKERS takes place against a backdrop of environmental deterioration, where ordinary life is becoming progressively more difficult.

That contrast matters. An extraordinary discovery becomes far more powerful when people have compelling reasons to care about it.

How did you choose the title for your book, and what significance does it hold for you?

DREAMWALKERS refers to the extraordinary state at the centre of the story, but I like that the title doesn't immediately explain what's happening.

We tend to think of dreams as something imaginary, experiences produced by our brains while we sleep. The novel challenges that assumption by asking whether consciousness might be capable of something we don't yet understand.

There's also something slightly unsettling about the word. It sounds peaceful, perhaps even beautiful, but it leaves you wondering exactly where these people are walking.

I wanted a title that was intriguing without giving away the mystery.

Which character was the most fun to write, and which one fought you?

Danny was enormous fun to write. He's got that wonderful ability to be completely inappropriate at exactly the wrong moment, and his relationship with Nate brings some much-needed humour to the story. I think those moments are important because they make the characters feel like real people rather than simply people moving through a plot.

But my favourite character to write was actually Michael Haines.

Haines fascinated me because I could push him into doing increasingly terrible things while knowing that readers would, at the very least, understand why he was doing them. They might even find themselves on his side, despite everything.

He's a man whose decisions are driven by something deeply human, and I loved exploring how far that motivation could take him. The challenge was making sure his actions remained believable without necessarily making them justifiable.

I think the most interesting characters aren't always the ones we agree with. Sometimes they're the ones who make us wonder whether, faced with the same circumstances, we might make some of the same terrible choices.

How do you approach revisions and editing, and how has your manuscript evolved throughout the process?

DREAMWALKERS has been a long time in the making, and the book being published is considerably more developed than the story I first imagined.

The final editorial process was extensive. I went back through the manuscript chapter by chapter, examining the prose, dialogue, character development, pacing and continuity. I wanted the story to move naturally, without unnecessary explanation or writing that continually drew attention to itself.

There were also practical challenges with a novel that spans decades and involves multiple interconnected storylines. Every change needed to make sense alongside everything that came before and after it.

I think one of the most important lessons I've learnt is that finishing a manuscript and finishing a novel are two very different things.

What challenges have you faced as an author, and how did you overcome them?

Probably the biggest challenge has been turning something I'd worked on for so long into a finished book that people can actually buy and read.

Writing it was one thing. Publishing it independently opened up an entirely different world.

Through JensonPanda, my independent publishing imprint, I've had to learn about book production, printing, distribution, booksellers, publicity and all the other things that traditionally sit behind a publishing house.

There's no enormous marketing department waiting to launch the book. You have to make things happen yourself, which can be daunting.

But there's something satisfying about that too. DREAMWALKERS is going out into the world exactly as I want it to, and every new reader, reviewer or bookseller who takes an interest feels like genuine progress.

JensonPanda

What do you hope readers think about after finishing the book?

First and foremost, I hope they've enjoyed a really good story. I want them to care about the characters, feel the tension and find themselves reluctant to put it down.

But I'd love them to carry some of the questions away with them too.

Where does consciousness really exist? How much of what we believe is based on evidence, and how much is based on what we need to be true? And if humanity were offered something extraordinary, would we necessarily recognise all its consequences?

If someone finishes DREAMWALKERS and finds themselves still thinking about it a few days later, I'll be delighted.

What are you currently working on?

I've certainly got no shortage of ideas.

I'm exploring the possibility of returning to the world of DREAMWALKERS, although any follow-up would need to take the story somewhere genuinely new rather than simply repeat what I've already done.

I'm also developing a separate psychological thriller concerned with fear, human behaviour and what might happen if one of our most fundamental protective instincts stopped working as it should.

They're quite different stories, but they have something in common: I love taking a question about human nature or our understanding of reality and following it somewhere unexpected.

For the moment, though, I'm concentrating on getting DREAMWALKERS into readers' hands.

What is one question you wish someone would ask you about your work?

Why did you make the other world in DREAMWALKERS somewhere people might actually want to go?

Because I think that's what makes the premise interesting.

If a scientific experiment revealed some dreadful, obviously terrifying place, humanity's response would be fairly straightforward. We'd want to understand it, but very few people would be queuing up to experience it.

What if the discovery were different? What if it revealed somewhere beautiful, peaceful and seemingly free from the difficulties of everyday life?

Now the questions become far more interesting, especially when the world we already inhabit is struggling.

And that, really, is where DREAMWALKERS begins to move beyond the science and into something much more human...

Dreamwalkers, released on 30th October 2026, available in e-book and paperback.

To buy a copy or to find out more, click HERE

_____________________________________________

If you are a published, (or self-published), author, and would like to be the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us at:

contact@brindlebooks.co.uk

Put the words ‘Interview request’ in the subject header, and tell us a little about yourself in the message. If your book is available online, please paste a link to it in the message. We’ll get back to you with further details and some interview questions.

Brindle Books Author Interview with Nat Hagee, Author of Surviving Hagee

 18th October 2026

In Surviving Hagee, Nat Hagee offers an unflinching and deeply personal account of childhood sexual and physical abuse, family secrecy, and the lasting impact of trauma on their journey into adulthood. Through direct, conversational prose and a willingness to confront difficult truths, Nat explores how early experiences shaped their identity, relationships, mental health and understanding of trust, while challenging the gap between a family’s public image and the private reality of a child’s life.

Nat Hagee, author of Surviving Hagee

In this interview, Nat reflects on the messy, often painful process of learning to live beyond survival, from navigating mental health treatment and relationships to embracing their identity as a trans non-binary person and confronting the challenges of parenting after trauma. Honest, raw and at times infused with dark humour, Surviving Hagee is not a story of overnight recovery, but of setbacks, accountability, love and the courage to break cycles of harm. Above all, Nat’s decision to speak openly after years of silence offers a powerful message of hope to other survivors: that their experiences deserve to be heard, and that they are not alone.

Tell us a little about your book?

Surviving Hagee is my memoir about growing up with a well-known family name while dealing with abuse, secrets, and things nobody wanted to talk about. John Hagee is my uncle, but this book is about what I lived through, not a story about his life. I talk about what trauma did to me, the choices I made as an adult, and what it took to finally start healing. It's raw, it's personal, and I tell it the same way I'd tell somebody sitting across from me.

What inspired you to start writing?

I spent so much of my life keeping things inside, and I got tired of carrying it all in silence. I didn't start writing because I thought I was some amazing author. I started because there was a story I needed to tell, and maybe somebody else needed to hear it. If one person reads my book and realizes they're not alone, that's already worth something to me.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Having to go back to places in my life that I had worked very hard not to think about. There were memories that made me angry, memories that hurt, and times I had to admit that the trauma didn't just affect me; it affected people around me too. That's not easy to put on paper. But I wanted to be real about all of it, not just the parts that made me look good.

How did you choose the title for your book, and what significance does it hold for you?

The title Surviving Hagee has more than one meaning for me. Yes, Hagee is a family name people recognize, but it's also my name and part of my history. For a long time, I felt like I was just surviving what happened to me and everything that came after. This book is me finally saying I want more than survival. I want a life.

What do you hope readers take away from your book?

I hope people understand that you can look perfectly fine on the outside and still be fighting things nobody sees. Healing isn't a straight line, and it doesn't mean pretending the past never happened. I also want people to know that what happened to them matters, but it doesn't have to control every decision they make for the rest of their lives. Mostly, I hope somebody feels seen.

Surviving Hagee by Nat Hagee

What projects are you currently working on, and can you offer any hints or teasers for your upcoming work?

Right now I'm focused on getting Surviving Hagee out into the world and having honest conversations about it. I've also started thinking through another book about what happens after you survive, especially learning how to trust, accept love, and build a life when you're used to chaos. The first book tells people what happened. The next part of the story is about learning how to live differently.

John Hagee is your uncle. What was it like growing up connected to such a recognizable megachurch family name?

It's a strange thing when people think they know your family because they recognize a name. People see the public side, but that doesn't tell them what life felt like for a kid behind closed doors. I had my own experiences and my own pain, and for a long time I didn't feel like I could say much about it. That gap between what people assumed and what I lived is part of why I wanted to tell my story myself.

What do you want readers to understand about your relationship to John Hagee and what Surviving Hagee is—and is not—saying about him?

John Hagee is my uncle. That's a fact, and it's part of why the title catches people's attention. But I want to be clear: this is my memoir, about my personal experiences and what they did to my life. I'm not saying he abused me or that every person with the Hagee name was responsible for what happened to me. I want people to listen to the story instead of making assumptions based only on the last name.

When did you realize trauma patterns were still running parts of your adult life?

It wasn't one big lightbulb moment. I started noticing that even when I was in a safer place, I could still react like I was back in danger. I struggled with trust, anger, wanting control, and sometimes pushing away the very people trying to love me. At some point I had to ask myself whether I was still letting old experiences make decisions for the person I am today.

What did healing actually look like for you beyond just 'going to therapy'?

Therapy has been a huge part of my life, but healing was also what I did after I left those appointments. It meant setting boundaries, learning to sit with uncomfortable feelings, being honest about my behaviour, and accepting that some days were going to be harder than others. It wasn't pretty or perfect. Sometimes it was just choosing to respond differently than I would have a year before.

What roles did treatment, supportive relationships, boundaries and your trans nonbinary identity play in reclaiming your life?

Every one of those things has mattered. Treatment gave me tools, boundaries helped me protect my peace, and the people who stayed consistent showed me that love didn't always have to come with fear. Being able to live as myself, including being open about my trans nonbinary identity, has been another part of not hiding anymore. None of it happened overnight, but it all helped me get a little closer to feeling at home in my own life.

How have parenting, love and writing the memoir helped you break cycles rather than repeat them?

Parenting made me think hard about the kind of adult I wanted to be for the kids in my life. Loving my wife and learning to accept love from her has pushed me to work on trust and not let fear run everything. Writing the book made me look at the good and the ugly parts of my choices instead of avoiding them. Breaking cycles isn't saying you'll never mess up; it's making the effort to do better, even when it's uncomfortable.

Surviving Hagee is available in both print and e-book versions:

Click HERE to find SURVIVING HAGEE on AMAZON.COM (USA)

Click HERE to find SURVIVING HAGEE on AMAZON UK 

_____________________________________________________

If you are a published, (or self-published), author, and would like to be the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us at:

contact@brindlebooks.co.uk

Put the words ‘Interview request’ in the subject header, and tell us a little about yourself in the message. If your book is available online, please paste a link to it in the message. We’ll get back to you with further details and some interview questions.

Brindle Books Author Interview with Paul Linggood, Author of The Boy on the Sofa

 

13th October 2026

Paul Linggood writes about the people and places that are too often overlooked, finding humanity, dignity and hope in lives shaped by difficult circumstances. A novelist and poet from Hertfordshire, his latest novel, The Boy on the Sofa, explores the realities of poverty, addiction and exploitation with an eye for the ordinary details that make his characters feel authentic. His debut novel, Just a Small Town, was first published by Hookline Books in 2020 before being republished by Bloodhound Books in 2023. The Boy on the Sofa marks a new chapter in his writing career as the first release from his own independent imprint, Broadwater Books.

With a background in English Literature, a Master’s degree in Creative Writing and more than twenty years spent working as a painter and decorator, Paul draws on a wealth of experience to bring authenticity to the voices and communities that populate his fiction. Through Broadwater Books, he also hopes to create opportunities for distinctive voices and emerging writers. We spoke to Paul about his writing, the experiences and observations that inform his work, and his ambitions for the future.

Paul Linggood, author

Tell us a bit about this book.

The Boy on the Sofa is a gritty social-realist novel that explores county lines, exploitation, addiction and kindness. The novel focuses on Billy, a fourteen-year-old boy manipulated into the world of county lines, and Terry, an ageing addict who is trapped at the other end of the same destructive system. Their unlikely relationship becomes the heart of the novel.

What prompted you to pick this subject and write this particular book?

I think this is a subject most people are aware of, yet few people actually witness. I wanted to highlight the suffering endured by people trapped in this world, but also explore the reasons they become involved in the first place. It was equally important to demonstrate the importance of kindness and how it can be found in unlikely places.

Unfortunately, I lived on the edge of this kind of life at one point when I was younger. Had I grown up in this generation, I think I could have been at risk myself. I know some aspects of this world. Later, when I worked as an FE English lecturer, I saw and worked with young people who could be susceptible to grooming, and I felt it was something I had to write about.

The Boy on the Sofa

You can find out more, purchase a copy, or read a sample by clicking HERE

You’ve had some glowing praise from New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Haynes. How did that come about?

Elizabeth Haynes has become a good friend and mentor. I was lucky enough to be introduced to her through my brother-in-law, and she has given me invaluable advice. She is an incredible writer who has seen just about every side of the publishing industry.

More importantly, she is a fantastic person. I feel privileged to call her a friend and to have been able to send her drafts of the book at moments when I had doubts about it. Having somebody of Elizabeth’s experience believe in the novel meant a great deal to me.

Tell us a bit about how and why you established Broadwater Books and how you found the experience of going from traditionally published with your previous book to becoming a publisher with this one.

I was traditionally published with my debut novella, Just a Small Town. I had a gentleman’s agreement with the publisher that they would also publish The Boy on the Sofa. However, I became quite ill while I was teaching and missed my deadline, and they were no longer willing to publish it. It was hard to take, but I understood. That is the nature of the industry.

I spent a while seeking representation from an agent, but eventually found the process draining and decided to take control of the book myself. I was fortunate to be in a better position than many first-time independent authors because I already had published work behind me. If I was going to do it, though, I wanted to do it properly. I established Broadwater Books and brought in skilled professionals, purchasing the rights to the cover photography and hiring a cover designer, editor and formatter. I wanted the finished book to be something I could genuinely put alongside a traditionally published novel and be proud of.

Broadwater Books

What are your future plans for Broadwater Books?

I don’t want Broadwater Books simply to be a platform for my own work. Eventually, I want it to become somewhere similar voices can be heard.

There are plans to launch an annual competition for Creative Writing MA students, and I am also beginning to put together a poetry collection showcasing emerging poets alongside some of my own work. I want to grow Broadwater slowly and sustainably rather than rush it. The long-term ambition is to give talented writers opportunities that can be incredibly difficult to find when you are starting out.

Which writer or writers would you say had the biggest influence on you, either as a writer yourself, or just in general?

I always find this question difficult because I have hundreds of influences and read very widely. I try to take something from every book I read. At the moment, for example, I’m reading Kate Atkinson and Paul Tremblay, two very different writers.

If I had to choose three who have been particularly influential, especially in relation to The Boy on the Sofa, I would probably choose George Orwell, Irvine Welsh and John Steinbeck. All three, in very different ways, wrote about class, hardship and people who can easily be ignored by society. Ask me again in six months, though, and I might give you three completely different names.

Tell us a bit about your previous book, Just a Small Town, and the journey from writing that to writing The Boy on the Sofa.

I originally wrote Just a Small Town for my major project at university. My lecturers were very encouraging about it and urged me to finish it. Initially, I wrote it almost as a form of therapy, as the opening chapters are semi-autobiographical and were inspired by a traumatic event from my youth. I never really had plans to publish it; I simply felt compelled to write it.

The book follows four connected young people trying to rebuild their lives after a tragedy. Having it traditionally published changed my relationship with writing. Something that began as a very personal piece of work became a book being read by complete strangers. By the time I came to The Boy on the Sofa, I was much more conscious that I wanted to write about difficult subjects and people whose experiences are often overlooked.

Just A Small Town

You can find out more, purchase a copy or read a sample HERE

What is it that drives you to write?

Many different things. As I said, Just a Small Town was partly therapy. The Boy on the Sofa came from an issue I felt I couldn’t ignore any longer. I write poetry for my own mental wellbeing, and I write speculative fiction for escapism.

I enjoy all aspects of writing in different ways. I don’t particularly want to confine myself to one genre or even one form. Sometimes I want to write about the real world and sometimes I want to get as far away from it as possible.

Can you tell us about your research methods?

It depends entirely on the book. With realism, a lot of my research comes from what I already know. It’s a cliché to say “write what you know”, but there is truth in it. I recall things from memory and put characters into places and situations that feel authentic to me.

I also listen. Conversations, news, podcasts, things people say in passing. I take snippets from everyday life and weave them into characters and situations. For subjects outside my own experience, I research more formally, but I think observation is one of the most useful forms of research a writer can do.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

I write when I can, as often as I can. I have a family with two children and still work full-time as a painter and decorator. It can be a struggle, but you have to make the time — not only if you want to succeed, but for your own wellbeing.

I don’t plan too much. I’m not a full-blown discovery writer because I need some framework to work within, but I find over-planning boring. You can exhaust some of the creativity before you have even started writing, and then find yourself constrained by a plan you feel obliged to follow.

I tend to make bullet points for the main plot and character arcs. I spend more time planning places and characters, building their profiles and understanding who they are. Once I know the people and the world, I like to give myself room to discover what happens inside it.

What advice would you give to new writers in your field?

Write as much as you can. Read as much as you can. Keep your pencil sharp and your mind with it. Be open to advice and criticism, but don’t accept all of it. Learn when to listen and when to stick to your guns.

Most importantly, be prepared for rejection and don’t let it define you. Almost everybody who writes seriously will experience it. Sometimes rejection teaches you something and sometimes it simply means you knocked on the wrong door. Keep writing either way.

What are you writing next?

I’m currently working on a psychological horror novel called The Paperman, which is quite a departure from The Boy on the Sofa. It follows an English lecturer working in further education whose increasingly stressful working life begins to blur with a series of unsettling events. The central question is whether something supernatural is happening to him or whether he is simply beginning to unravel.

I write my speculative and horror fiction under the name Leonard Williams, which allows me to keep that work slightly separate from my social realism. The Paperman still contains many of the things that interest me as a writer — ordinary people, mental pressure, institutions and the way people cope when their lives begin to slip beyond their control — but this time I get to have considerably more fun with the darkness.

The Boy on the Sofa is available now in e-book and paperback. For more details, to purchase a copy, or read a sample click HERE

If you are a published, (or self-published), author, and would like to be the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us at:

contact@brindlebooks.co.uk

Put the words ‘Interview request’ in the subject header, and tell us a little about yourself in the message. If your book is available online, please paste a link to it in the message. We’ll get back to you with further details and some interview questions.

BRINDLE BOOKS INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL JUDGE, AUTHOR OF STENHOUSE: GROWING UP IN EDINBURGH AND BEYOND.

22nd September 2026 

Whatever town or city we grew up in, most of us have memories of childhood that stay with us long after the places, people and routines have changed. For Michael Judge, those memories are rooted in Stenhouse, Edinburgh, during the 1980s and early 1990s. His debut book, STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond, captures his childhood world through the everyday experiences of growing up — but the feelings, memories and characters at its heart could belong to almost any hometown.

Michael Judge, AKA Bill Rectangle,
author of STENHOUSE: Growing Up in 
Edinburgh and Beyond

Written under the name Bill Rectangle, the memoir isn't a conventional history of Edinburgh. Instead, Michael focuses on the ordinary things that made up childhood — the streets he knew, the people he grew up around, family stories and the seemingly small experiences that can become surprisingly significant to us all as we get older. His route to becoming an author is perhaps unexpected: Alongside a continuing full-time career in IT spanning more than 30 years, he turned his attention to capturing those memories, completing the book in around 95 days.

Michael calls his approach the “Cinematic Layering Technique”, using atmosphere, sound and sensory detail to bring genuine memories to life. We caught up with him to talk about growing up in Stenhouse, the Edinburgh of his childhood, the memories behind STENHOUSE, and his journey as a long-time IT professional also becoming a first-time author.

STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond

Firstly, Michael, please tell us a little about your book.

STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond is a literary memoir about growing up in Stenhouse, Edinburgh, from the late 1970s through the 1980s and into the early 1990s. It is about family, friendships, school, football, ice skating, skiing, skateboarding, music, early technology, local characters and the freedom of an outdoor childhood, but it also includes the harder moments that helped shape me. At heart, it is a warm, honest and sometimes chaotic portrait of an ordinary Edinburgh childhood during a period of enormous social and technological change.

How or why did you come up with the pen name of Bill Rectangle?

The appeal of Bill Rectangle was that it was very clearly a pen name — something memorable, a little unusual and slightly humorous rather than another ordinary-sounding name. It gave me a distinct creative identity for STENHOUSE while still allowing me to be completely open that Michael Judge is the person behind it. That balance suited the book quite well: it is personal and truthful, but there is also a lot of humour and personality running through it. 

What prompted you to write this particular book?

I reached a point where I realised how much of the world I grew up in had already disappeared. The streets were still there, but the atmosphere, routines, local characters, childhood freedoms and way people interacted had changed enormously. I wanted to preserve those memories while I could still hear the voices, picture the places and remember the small details that make a life feel real.

I also wanted to record a working family history that might otherwise simply fade. The book began as something personal, but as it developed I realised that many readers of my generation could recognise parts of their own childhood in it even if they had never been anywhere near Stenhouse.

Tell us a bit about the difficulties that you encountered and how they affected the way you went about writing this book.

One of the most important parts of my story is that written English did not come easily to me when I was young. My Edinburgh accent affected the way I heard and spelled words, and I needed additional support at primary school. I later moved through further and higher education and built a long professional career in IT, but I never forgot what it felt like to struggle with writing at the beginning.

That experience made me very methodical with STENHOUSE. I worked slowly, reviewed repeatedly, checked consistency and treated my own lived experience as the single source of truth. Modern digital tools helped with organisation, spelling, grammar, accessibility and production, but the memories, decisions, tone and final verification remained mine throughout.

How did your experiences growing up in the area you describe shape the course of your life?

Stenhouse gave me a mixture of independence, curiosity and resilience. We spent a huge amount of time outside, moving between football, bikes, skateboards, parks, the Water of Leith and whatever adventure appeared next. At the same time, I had a very secure family home, so I think I grew up with both a willingness to explore and a strong sense of having a base to return to.

My fascination with early technology also started there. Calculators, video recorders, electronic games and the first home computers seemed almost magical to me. That curiosity eventually became a career in IT spanning around three decades. In that sense, the child in STENHOUSE who kept trying to understand how things worked is recognisably the same person I became professionally.

Do you have plans for more books in the near future and, if so, what can we expect?

Yes. STENHOUSE is Book One, and the natural continuation is a second major memoir beginning around the point I left school at sixteen and moving into the 1990s. That period opens a very different world: work, growing independence, music and club culture, technology, friendships and the transition from adolescence into adult life.

I am also developing age-appropriate younger-reader adaptations of the original material. I do not want to rush any of them simply to meet an artificial deadline; I would rather develop each project carefully and make sure it has a genuine reason to exist.

Having put a lot of work into establishing White Hat Media, what further plans do you have for its development? Are you sticking with books/audiobooks or planning to branch out?

White Hat Media began as the publishing identity behind STENHOUSE, but I deliberately built it as a broader creative platform rather than just a logo on a book. The project already includes paperback, Kindle, an author-narrated audiobook, video material, extracts, bonus content and an independent website. I am interested in developing further books, audio, interviews, documentary-style material and other formats where they genuinely suit the story.

I am also open to working with professional partners on rights, publishing, documentary or adaptation opportunities where there is a sensible creative and commercial fit. Judge IT Consulting is separate but connected through the technical side of what I do. My professional technology background gave me the skills to build much of the publishing and digital infrastructure independently, and the website is credited to Judge IT Consulting: https://www.judgeitconsulting.org/

How do you think your own experience of growing up there compares with that of kids growing up there today?

I would describe it as different rather than automatically better or worse. We had freedoms that would probably surprise some parents now: being outside for long periods, making our own games, cycling around, exploring parks and learning social rules directly from other children. We also had far less instant access to information, entertainment or communication.

Children today have extraordinary opportunities through technology, education and access to the wider world, but there is a trade-off. My childhood gave us a lot of unsupervised imagination and local community life because there simply was not a screen offering something else every minute. I think both generations gain things and lose things, and that contrast is one of the reasons I wanted to preserve the period honestly rather than pretend it was perfect.

Which writers would you say have had the biggest influence on you?

I would not claim that STENHOUSE was modelled closely on one particular writer. Its strongest influence was lived experience itself: family storytelling, Edinburgh voices, remembered dialogue, music, places and the rhythm of ordinary conversation. I wanted the prose to sound natural and close to memory rather than imitate somebody else’s literary voice.

I have always been interested in memoir and social history that can make ordinary lives feel worth recording. That principle influenced me more than any single stylistic model: the belief that a family house, a street, a park or a conversation can carry just as much human meaning as a traditionally ‘important’ historical event.

What has been your highlight or biggest achievement in this field?

Finishing the book and then taking it all the way through independent publication has been the biggest achievement. I did not only write it; I built the publishing identity, produced the paperback and Kindle editions, personally narrated the full audiobook, created the website and promotional material, and learned the practical realities of bringing a memoir to readers.

The fact that this began with somebody who once needed help with written English makes completing that full process especially meaningful to me. Whatever happens commercially from here, nobody can take away the fact that the book now exists in three formats and the memories have been preserved.

Can you tell us about your research methods?

The foundation was memory, because this is literary memoir rather than conventional history. My own lived experience remained the single source of truth. I then strengthened it by talking through family stories, looking again at photographs and locations, checking the sequence of places and people, and verifying period details where dates, technology, music or public events could be checked independently.

I was careful not to turn uncertain memories into false certainty. Dialogue is naturally recreated from memory and family telling, and some names and identifying details have been changed for privacy. The aim was emotional and factual honesty without pretending that human memory works like a recording device.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?

Most of the work was done in my own time outside my normal 9-to-5 professional life. I would work through memories in sections, expand them into scenes, then repeatedly revisit the material for chronology, tone, duplication and consistency. I found that one remembered object or place often unlocked several other memories, so the book grew organically rather than being produced from a rigid daily word-count target.

The editing stage was at least as important as the initial writing. I wanted the final book to feel like one continuous remembered world rather than a collection of disconnected anecdotes, so I spent a lot of time making sure people, places, ages and themes flowed naturally across the manuscript.

What advice would you give to new writers in your field?

Start with the truth you actually own. Do not worry about making an ordinary life sound artificially dramatic. The tiny details — a room, a smell, a pair of trainers, a local phrase, the way somebody laughed — are often what make memoir universal because they make it specific first.

I would also tell new writers not to be intimidated by the fact that the first draft is imperfect. Writing is not only inspiration; it is review, correction, structure and patience. Use whatever legitimate tools help you work, but keep responsibility for the truth, voice and final decisions firmly with yourself.

For more information and bonus material, please visit White Hat Media:

https://www.whitehatmedia.org/

You can see the short advert for the book here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t7GQyo-vJk&feature=youtu.be

…or the full advert here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS0XmZhEVqQ

STENHOUSE: Growing Up in Edinburgh and Beyond is available in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats. Follow the links below for buying options:

Paperback: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H5WY8CGY

e-Book: https: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H5KWPX2F

Audiobook:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0H8ZV8JZG/

If you are an author and have a book out, either self published or traditionally published and would be interested in being the subject of one of our author interviews, please email us in the first instance, at:

contact@brindlebooks.co.uk 

Repeat Offender: Crime Wave at Tangents Earns Second Bollinger Wodehouse Prize Nomination for Roderick Easdale.

 30th June 2026

Brindle Books Ltd is delighted to announce that Crime Wave at Tangents by Roderick Easdale has been nominated for the 2026 Bollinger Wodehouse Prize for Comic Literature.

Crime Wave at Tangents by Roderick Easdale

The nomination marks a remarkable second successive appearance on the prize nomination list for Easdale's Tangents series. His debut novel, Summer at Tangents, was nominated for the 2025 Bollinger Wodehouse Prize, establishing the fictional village of Tangents as a place where comedy, confusion and poor decision-making flourish in equal measure.

Now, with Crime Wave at Tangents, Easdale returns readers to the increasingly eventful community, where criminal activity appears to be spreading at a rate that local authorities find deeply concerning and literary judges apparently find highly entertaining.

Here at Brindle Books, we are absolutely thrilled. Having one Tangents novel nominated for the Bollinger Wodehouse Prize was wonderful. Having a second nominated suggests either a growing appreciation for Roderick Easdale's comic genius or a serious containment failure in the village of Tangents. We are choosing to believe the former.

The news was greeted enthusiastically throughout Brindle Books headquarters, where celebrations reportedly included tea, biscuits and several minutes of dignified cheering before matters got completely out of hand.

Roderick Easdale responded to the announcement with characteristic modesty.

"It is an enormous honour," he said. "I am particularly pleased that the judges have once again agreed to visit Tangents, although I feel obliged to apologise for what they found when they got there."

The Bollinger Wodehouse Prize for Comic Literature celebrates the finest humorous writing and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards in comic fiction. To receive a nomination once is a significant achievement; to receive nominations in consecutive years suggests that the residents of Tangents have developed an impressive commitment to causing trouble.

Author Roderick Easdale

The nomination also arrives ahead of the publication of the third novel in the series, Terror at Tangents, which will be released later this year. Readers can therefore look forward to discovering what fresh chaos, confusion and questionable judgement await the long-suffering inhabitants of the village.

Industry observers have noted that most fictional communities are content with the occasional mystery or minor scandal. Tangents, by contrast, appears determined to experience every conceivable catastrophe while remaining oddly cheerful about the whole thing.

Whether Crime Wave at Tangents ultimately claims the prize remains to be seen. For now, we are celebrating a second consecutive nomination and preparing for the publication of Terror at Tangents with a mixture of pride, excitement and a growing suspicion that the village should perhaps invest in a larger police station.

You can find out more, read a sample, or buy a copy by clicking HERE