My First Time...with Simon James Green

Simon James Green has worked extensively as a director for stage and television. He directed Hollyoaks for C4 and co-writes screenplays such as Rules of Love, a feature-length teen rom-com for the BBC. His first feature film, The Infinity Boys, is currently in development. Simon brings his gifts for drama, humour and pitch-perfect character development to bear in his first novel, the opening chapters of which won him selection for SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices 2016.

Here's the blurb for Noah Can't Even...

Poor Noah Grimes. His father disappeared years ago, his mother's Beyoncé tribute act is an embarrassment, and his beloved gran is no longer herself.

School is... well, it's pure hell.

Noah wishes he could be normal, like everyone else at school. Maybe if he struck up a romantic relationship with someone that would help... maybe Sophie, who is perfect and lovely. Maybe then he'd be seen in a different light?

But Noah's plans are completely derailed when his only friend, Harry, kisses him at a party.

Describe the exact moment you decided to write your book.

I’d just had yet another rejection for this bloody awful (wannabe literary fiction) adult book I’d written. I thought, screw this, I’ll just write the thing I really want to write. So, I did: a funny, coming-of-age story about a teenage boy questioning his sexuality.

What’s the one thing you wish you’d known before starting to write it?

There’s not really any such thing as the ‘final edit.’ Still now, I could happily tour bookshops with some Tippex and a biro and make various tweaks. But at some point, you just have to let it go. Also, the whole path to publication takes forever and is fraught with stress and anxiety.

What’s your go-to procrastination method?

Watching Riverdale on Netflix and pretending that a half-naked KJ Apa is, in some way, research.