A Warrington foster mum who took five years to try and complete her first novel has now written two during lockdown!
Rachael Harper from Orford had always wanted to be a published author since the age of ten, but had always struggled to complete one because life gets in the way.
Rachael, who has ADHD, previously worked as an education lecturer and started her first real novel in 2015, but for five years she struggled to find the direction to continue with it.
“When the first lockdown hit I decided to use it as a positive encouragement and within about 4 months I had finished my first novel ‘Corrupted’ I then feeling motivated went on to write it’s sequel, which I finished after 9 months!
The first novel has now been released via Amazon in kindle and paperback. It’s a psychological mystery drama that focuses on the impact of experiences through the lens of a woman imprisoned in a mental institute for a crime she is adamant she did not commit.
Rachel added: “So, you see, for me, lockdown drove me to fulfil my lifelong dream. I’m not going to lie and say lockdown was a piece of cake, it was hard at times, but for me it will always be the catalyst for my published novel.
“I am a qualified education lecturer who really struggled at school. I have ADHD so mainstream education was not accessible for me and I never thought I would amount to anything.
“I got into writing because it’s one of the only things I’ve found I’m naturally good at, without anyone having to teach me how to do it. In other words, I find it really empowering.
“When I was at high school I made the mistake of telling my peers that I had ADHD as I didn’t realise it was a bad thing. I got really badly bullied after that, writing was my form of escape.
“I wrote poems about how the bullies made me feel and a few years later one of the bullies got hold of my poem and I expected to be ridiculed.
“Instead, they straight up apologised to me and so did a lot of other people who had bullied me once they saw the poem. It made me realise that my words can have an impact and encouraged me even more that I wanted to be a writer; I just needed to find the right story to tell.
Rachel added: “As an education lecturer I’m interested in the psychology of how people learn and how they become who they are. Also, the factors that influence this such as their experiences and the support they have in their life. I no longer work as an education lecturer, but now I’m a foster parent (and I teach English as a foreign language online too) trying to support and empower little people and their parents to gain access to better opportunities.
I was inspired to write this book originally because I wanted a complex story that would keep me focused on writing, I didn’t want something that was just told in a straight line or linear fashion.
I wanted something that would keep people guessing and also tell multiple short stories within one big novel. Hopefully I’ve done that as the book combines first-person flashbacks with third person present day, so you
are getting to know the main character more through their experiences more than what you see.
“I guess I’ve done that because all my life people have judged me based on one small glimpse of who I am, but people never know what you have experienced. What led you to be who you are and why you are that way.
I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect everyone to like me, but we live in a generation that tends to pass instant judgement on not even half a story.
“When I think back to my experiences, there are several key people in my life who have shown me kindness and made the biggest impact on who I have become. I’ve dedicated my book to one such person.”
Rachael with her first published novel
