February 29th

My debut novel is about a 12 year old boy called Frank, his twin brother Jimmy and their parents, a local shop owner called Mr Blake, time travel and Frank's quirky perspective of a very adult event. The book is written from the first person perspective of Frank. He and his family are forced to become friends with the odd owner of a local sweet shop as a result of Frank's big mouth. But nothing really is at is seems and when the shop owner suggests to his parents that Frank take a special herbal remedy to help him with his insomnia, strange things start to happen.

 

“You said what?” I think they both asked me together. They both had their mouths wide open so I wasn’t sure who said it first. We were all standing up in our living room. I had asked them to sit down so that I could tell them the news but the first time I said it Dad stood up. The second time I explained it Mum stood up. “You said what?” I could see myself in the mirror behind them. They stared at me, I stared at the mirror. Best to avoid their eyes in moments like this. I wasn’t a bad looking kid. My nose was in the right place. I had big blue eyes, brown hair and I didn’t need braces. Braces look disgusting. There is this guy in school who has a mouth full of train tracks and his saliva seems to gather in the braces and when he talks he spits at me. It’s impossible to be friends with someone who has a mouth of steel and that spits saliva at you. He likes dinosaurs and collecting coins as well but the main problem is the braces.