The Art of Being Normal (28 page)

A huge thank you to everyone and anyone who supported me during the writing of this book, but especially:

Bella Pearson, for not only being an incredible editor, but for having faith in me from the very start. I couldn’t have got there without you.

The entire team at David Fickling Books, including but not limited to, David Fickling for his invaluable editorial input, wise words and warm welcome into the fold, Linda Sargent for her fantastic notes, Phil Earle for making me feel like a bit of a superstar, and Rosie Fickling for answering my endless questions! I consider myself very privileged to be a DFB author.

Alice Todd, for coming up with the perfect cover. And Ness Wood at DFB for finding her!

Margaret Ferguson at Farrar, Straus and Giroux in New York for her wonderfully thoughtful editorial notes and for keeping my wandering timeline in check! I’m so excited to work with you further.

My hands-down amazing agent, Catherine Clarke, for making me feel I’m in safe hands every step of the way.

Imogen Cooper and the fantastic team at The Golden Egg Academy for being exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. I am very proud to call myself an ‘egger’.

The lovely folk at Curtis Brown Creative (CBC), especially Anna Davis and Chris Wakling, for spotting my potential and gently suggesting I should try writing for young adults (light bulb moment!).

Each and every one of my fellow CBC classmates, especially the Monday night crew – Paul Golden, James Hall, Michael Hines,
Dan MacDonald, Fiona Perrin, Christina Pishiris, Maria Realf and Sara-Mae Tuson. An extra shout-out to Fiona for ‘lending’ me her daughters and their mates for an afternoon’s crash course in all things ‘teenage’. Chloe Atkinson, Elyse Emanuel, Sienna Emanuel, Jacob Grosvenor-Brown, Bryony Ingram, Lewis Lehrfreund, Georgina Martin, Will Murray, Alex Pritchard, Lizzi Shearing, Kat Smith and Will Taylor – thank you for educating me so brilliantly!

Jake Dorothy and Stef Williams for inviting me into their homes and being so generous, candid and honest. Your input was vital.

The magnificent Gender Identity Development Service team at The Tavistock Centre, past and present but especially Polly Carmichael, Sarah Davidson, Domenico de Ceglie, Keyur Joshi and Elin Skagerberg.

Nikki Gibbard, Winnie Tang, Katherine Watson and David Whitfield (aka the besties) for being generally awesome. An extra special bow-down to Nikki for being my head-cheerleader from the very beginning – it meant a lot then and even more now. Much love to you all.

My family for not totally freaking out when I announced, after ten years as an actor, I was planning to give the equally stable career of writing a go! Your quiet pride in me means so much and ensures my feet stay firmly on the ground.

The following lovely people for helping shape the book in ways big and small (but all important!); Gregory Ashton/Lesley Ross, Chloe Austin, Andrew Clarke, Barry Cunningham, Julia Green, Lisa Heathfield, Jill McLay and Anna Ramberg. You are all brilliant!

And finally thank you to Matt for his patience, superiority on all things SPAG and all-round good energy. I’m so glad to be sharing this adventure with you.

Lisa was born in Nottingham in 1980. She spent most of her childhood drawing, daydreaming and making up stories in her head (but never getting round to writing them down). As a teenager she was bitten by the acting bug and at 19 moved to London to study drama at university.

Following graduation, Lisa adopted the stage name of Lisa Cassidy and spent several happy and chaotic years occasionally getting paid to pretend to be other people. Between acting roles she worked as an office temp and started making up stories all over again, only this time she had a go at writing them down. One such job was at The Gender Identity Development Service – a specialist NHS service for young people struggling with their gender identity. The stories Lisa heard inspired her to create a fictional teenage character exploring these issues.

Lisa lives near Hampstead Heath with her boyfriend, Matt, where she is lucky enough to split her time between writing and acting. In her spare time she reads a lot of books, continues to daydream and eats way too much ice cream.

- A Swift Pure Cry for
YOUR
Help -

To bring the Joy of Reading to the children who need it most.

Siobhan Dowd was a staggeringly talented writer, and a very special and warm-hearted human being. After a life spent in the service of writers and readers of all nations she began to write for young people. To the wonderment and acclaim of the whole world, she delivered four quite extraordinary novels for children in as many years. Tragically, right at the height of her powers, she passed away from cancer in August 2007.

Just days before her death, she summoned all her cancer-depleted energies for one last great act: to set up the Siobhan Dowd Trust. Its purpose: to bring the joy! the fun! the delight! of reading and stories to children who have no access to books, especially children in care and other unfairly disadvantaged young people.

By the terms of Siobhan’s will, all royalty income derived from her four published novels and any posthumously published work goes to the Trust:

A Swift Pure Cry
(2006)

The London Eye Mystery
(2007)

Bog Child
(2008)

Solace of the Road
(2009)

And if by some chance you haven’t read her books yet, then we recommend each one as an astonishing piece of writing in its own right. But the trustees believe that Siobhan’s generosity should be, and can be, the seed for something much larger and more important. Siobhan realised how important our literary society was to us all, and that our literary culture – writers, critics, booksellers, agents, publishers, librarians, teachers – depends ultimately on the reader. And amongst readers, the young reader is the most vulnerable. And amongst young readers, the disadvantaged young reader is the most deprived of all. Siobhan, at the last, and with all her usual clarity, decided to help them. You can help them too.

Please send donations to:
The Siobhan Dowd Trust
[email protected]

And to find out more visit
www.siobhandowdtrust.com
Also, if you’re on Twitter: @sdowdtrust

If you liked this book, supports the author.

The Art of Being Normal
First published in 2015
by David Fickling Books, 31 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2NP

This ebook edition first published in 2015

All rights reserved
Text © Lisa Williamson, 2015
Illustrations © Alice Todd, 2015

The right of Lisa Williamson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

ISBN 978–1–910200–40–7