Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy

"This book was the thing that gave me the courage to write. I was a scared writer, as much as I was a reader all those years ago. But at the age of 30, my head was full of half ideas and stories. If I could have written any book, I would have written this one. For me it was perfect, funny, brilliantly illustrated and full of great stories and ideas. Using rhyming poetry as a foundation allowed me a structure to work to when writing my own ideas. It gave me the confidence knowing that I had a road map for my words. It was like writing with stabilisers on. Poetry can be a story, a joke, an idea anything you want it to be, but this book allowed me to see it as a way into writing my own books."