Dad's Red Dress... One sleep to go!

On Wednesday my first novel, Dad's Red Dress, comes out. 

Amazing cover by Aoife Henke 

A few years ago, tired of waiting on other people's decisions and disillusioned at the number of scripts scowling at me from the shelves - even ones that everyone liked but couldn't raise funding on - I started to turn some of them into books, starting with the family features. 

Dad's Red Dress danced into prose and revelled in the freedom of it! 

So what's it about?

Having just moved to Ireland from California, Jessie is determined that nobody at school will find out about her dad's cross-dressing. Not because she minds but because when they do, bullying inevitably follows and she wants to protect herself and Laura. 

This story wanted to be heard. It's a strong story but I've tried to tell it lightly and honestly, from Jessie's point of view. This is her world and she's still finding her way in it. But I've had the idea for it since the early 80s. It first came out in 2002 as a feature script. That was my main form of writing at that stage. It got a huge amount of traction and interest, even a bit of competition from two German production companies who both wanted it and it was steaming ahead toward full production. Key casting was being talked about and then, nothing. 

Jessie wants her family to be normal. Really normal. Boringly so.

Thing is her kid sister, Laura thinks she’s been abducted by the Virgin Mary – twice; once on a motorbike with a pink afro; her step-mum makes nude sculptures and her dad becomes Mandy when the door closes.

Trouble is, she's not really in control of what happens next and things are about to get a whole lot more complicated... 

So now, after waiting over 30 years (scary how time speeds up! My mother always said it did, when you got older and I believe her now!), Dad's Red Dress is available on Amazon here.

You can also keep track of what's happening on 
Twitter: @DadsRedDress

Facebook:  Dad's Red Dress