Isaac Thackray

How long do you let writing hound you before you give in?

For Isaac Thackray it was until he was nearly thirty. He had been compelled to write for as long as he could remember but living in a small farming village where men were men and rugby was God, he thought he should just keep that to himself.

Not that it mattered anyway. Isaac’s real dream was to be in The Beatles or Led Zeppelin. To his surprise they had never called and his future was looking uncertain to say the least. Fate would have to step in.

And one day in a fish and chip shop it did just that. He was reading a newspaper when he came across a headline saying: ‘Sex, booze, fast cars. If you can write headlines like this, call us today.’

He did and so began a wildly successful career as an advertising and TV writer where got to hone his craft and sharpen his wit alongside the best in the business. A few years later, with a swag of awards and enough contacts to go freelance he escaped the city just in time for the birth of his first daughter.

Then came another daughter and before long Isaac was reading literally hundreds of children’s books out loud. He found himself captured by the magic of the great ones and even more so with the idea of writing one himself.

So he parked himself at a local cafe and starting banging away. And kept on banging until he had Queen of Muck in the can – a hilarious, exciting and heartwarming tale of two sisters searching for their missing Granddad.

Oh, and if you’re wondering, writing and Isaac get along just fine these days and he’s very grateful that it never gave up on him.

Isaac’s debut novel is published by Mary Egan Publishing.