Ali Sparkes

I was a slow reader and writer for a while and didn’t really start to catch up until I was about eight – and discovered The Famous Five! I think I started writing stories which got house marks in middle school, so probably from about age nine onwards. I remember seeing some of them up on the walls. But it wasn’t until secondary school, when I was around 15 that I wrote my first full length adventures – a four part series of fictitious adventures featuring me and my two best friends. With help from my fab art teacher, who brought in his Writers & Artists Year Book and told me what to do, I sent three of my books to Penguin. I still have the kindly rejection letter they sent back!

After that I went back to my main passion – being theatrical. I never really took the writing thing seriously until, aged 22, I had to accept that drama school and stardom in the West End was probably not going to happen, and got a job as a local newspaper reporter. Then the writing started to take off…

My story about a boy who Shapeshifts into a fox had very nearly made it to commission with Usborne Books, but fell at the last hurdle. The editorial director there – Megan Larkin – was lovely to me and recommended three agents. More to the point, she agreed I could tell them that she recommended me. Through this I found the legendary Rosemary Canter at PFD. Later she and 90% of her colleagues left to set up United Agents and I went with her. Sadly, Rosemary died a few years ago but I am still with UA. Rosemary was wonderful – a lady of great poise and warmth who gave me the very best advice and secured a five book deal for me just weeks after we met.

The first school visit I ever did was memorable. I arrived to find my new book laid out on every desk, in a smart vinyl dust cover. It was the stuff of my dreams. Apart from one book, which had no dust cover and was speared through violently with a sharpened pencil. The pupil who’d made this statement was the same who showed up minutes later and proceeded to weep and wail for about 20 minutes through my presentation and workshop. Apparently this was normal for him. He even had a comfy beanbag in the corner just for the weeping. We all ignored him until he got over it and joined in, happily, with the rest. I’ve also had interruptions by way of projectile vomiting, fire alarms, nosebleeds, fainting and, once, a green woodpecker which flew around the school hall and caused a major audience freak out.

Keep trying the agents. It’s soooo hard but you’re more likely to get read and get somewhere this way. Few editors at the publishers have time to wade through all the unsolicited manuscripts they get, so your odds are slim. Pitch from the very subject line of your email. Get yourself noticed. Every word counts.

Ooooh – this is my favourite game! Death By Detention has the coolest head teacher in the world. I’d settle for Damian Lewis or Idris Alba.