Mum-of-two Julia Forster tells how moving to Machynlleth led her on a new path as a published author...

WHEN I moved to Machynlleth in 2010 with my husband, a three-year-old and a nine-month-old baby, I hadn’t given a second thought to what I’d actually do for a living. With two kids under three, my forward planning reached as far as when my next cup of coffee would be.

As the kids gradually became more independent, I began to ponder what I might usefully do with those slivers of spare time. It was the author and activist Angharad Penrhyn Jones who told me about the bursary scheme run by Literature Wales which supports both emergent and established authors, and I decided to apply.

I was lucky enough to be granted just over £1,000 to help pay nursery fees for six months. During early 2012, I began to write my coming-of-age novel, What a Way to Go, which is out on 7 January. It wasn’t easy to begin with; I spent three of those six months stalling on starting the book. I plotted it extensively in Excel and then threw out the spread sheet in despair. It wasn’t until I found the voice of 12-year-old Harper Richardson - outspoken, funny and sometimes even a little bit outrageous - that I felt I had some momentum.

Once I’d got going, I found I could write anywhere - in the kitchen while the pasta boiled, on the train between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth, in bed - and by early 2014 I had finished the first draft.

I’d heard about a literary agent in London called Sophie Lambert who was particularly good with handling debut novelists and late one evening in March 2014, I emailed her the first 50 pages. I remember squinting when I pressed send, as if I’d spilt lemon juice in my eyes. There was a part of me which found the process of letting the book out in to the world a little bit excruciating, just like the first time your child toddles off

in the playground and you can’t help but wince in anticipation of them tumbling over.

I needn’t have worried about the manuscript falling flat on its face.

Within 12 hours, Sophie had written back; she’d read the first 50 pages and wanted to read the rest. I pinched myself and emailed the balance of the manuscript. Within a couple of months I heard that she wanted to take me on as a client.

The day I received that message I was staying in a bothy in north Wales with a few other local families. The bothy had once been the farmhouse where my great-grandfather Jesse Williams had been born and generations before him had been tenant farmers. I couldn’t help but think there was a little bit of Welsh magic involved in the literary agent accepting me on to her list.

By the end of 2014 and after a couple of re-writes, Sophie had placed the book with a publisher, and it is just about to be released.

The novel is set in 1988 and follows 12-year-old Harper Richardson, whose parents are divorced. Her mum got custody of Harper, the Mini, and 500 tins of baked beans. Her dad got a mouldering cottage in a Midlands backwater village and default membership of the Lone Rangers single parents’ club. Harper’s got questionable dress sense, a zest for life, two gerbils, and her Chambers dictionary, and the responsibility of fixing her parents’ broken hearts.

Set against a backdrop of high hairdos and higher interest rates, pop music and puberty, divorce and decrepitude, What a Way to Go is a bittersweet tale of one girl tackling the business of growing up while those around her try not to fall apart. It has been quite a long process getting from writing those first tentative chapters to the point where I could hold a finished copy in my hands, but I have Wales to thank for inspiring me to have a go.

Without the support of Literature Wales, a Life Writing course at Ty Newydd and the encouragement from my friends and family here in Machynlleth, I don’t think I ever would have begun.

Julia will be reading from her book and answering questions at two author events in the area in February. On Thursday, 4 February, she will be launching the book at Pen’rallt Bookshop on Heol Pen’rallt in Machynlleth and will be joined by Sophie Lambert from Conville and Walsh, talking about the path to publication. Tickets are free, but limited so reservation is necessary. Call (01654) 700559 or email [email protected] to reserve a seat. Doors open at 6pm, the event starts at 6.30pm.

At 6.30pm on Thursday, 11 February, Julia will be reading from the book at the Arts Centre Bookshop in Aberystwyth, at an event which will be chaired by Firefly Press editor Janet Thomas. There is no need to book.

What a Way to Go, published by Atlantic Books and priced at £12.99, is available from 7 January.