Fighting back catherine macphail biography
Catherine MacPhail
British author (–)
Catherine MacPhail | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 January &#; Greenock&#; |
| Died | 28 August &#; (aged 75) |
Catherine MacPhail (25 January – 28 August [1]) was a Scottish-born author.
Although she had had other jobs, she always wanted to be a writer but she did not think she would be suited to it.[2] Her first published work was a sort of "twist-in-the-tale" story in Tit-Bits, followed by a story in The Sunday Post. After she won a romantic story competition in Woman's Weekly, she decided to concentrate on romantic novels, but after writing two, she decided that it was not right for her.[3] In addition to writing books for children around their teens, she also wrote for adults.
She is the author of the BBC Radio 2 series My Mammy and Me.[4]
Personal life
MacPhail was married.
Fighting back catherine macphail biography Macquarrie, John Maconchy, Elizabeth — Categories : births deaths Writers from Greenock 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women writers. MacPherson, AndreaShe had three children, one named Katie, who was the inspiration from her first book. MacPhail said that she would write for free, but she enjoyed being paid for it. On her website, it says that as a child she asked "Do you know what an eejit is? Someone who is one sandwich short of a picnic … whose lift doesn't go … well, you know what I mean. Eejit is a wonderful Scottish/Irish word that seemed to sum me up perfectly when I was growing up." (Eejit is a Scottish/Irish word for someone idiotic or simple.) "I was always trying to change my image.
Act sophisticated, grown up, sensible… and then a story would just plop into my mind and BANG! There I'd go, smack into another fence post."[5]
MacPhail grew up with three sisters and a widowed mother, her fatherhaving died when she was two. She claimed that her childhood was "full of fun, even though it must have been so hard for my mum.
Me and my sisters knew nothing of the hardship she must have had. My mother was always reading books and was never away from the library". She wrote in her website she can always remember thinking what a wonderful place it was, wher one could walk out with a stack full of books and did not even pay for them!
"It was my mum who gave me my love of reading."[6]
"Yet, my own background, my home town, have been the inspiration for most of my writing. A comedy series called My Mammy and Me, another one called We Gotta Get Outta This Place. Set in Greenock, inspired by my own experiences. And my first book, the book that changed my life, Run Zan Run, based on what happened to my own daughter Katie, in Greenock.
A tip, if you want to be a writer, don't ever think nothing ever happens to you, because your own life is so interesting, if you just think about it. My only regret? I wish I had started sooner. But once I'd started? There was no stopping me."
Career
MacPhail's first children's novel was Run, Zan, Run.
Catherine macphail MacPherson, Elle ? Archived from the original on 24 March In Missing thirteen-year-old Maxine Moody was devastated when her older brother Derek, ran away from home ten months ago in order to avoid a local bully named Sweeney. After she won a romantic story competition in Woman's Weekly , she decided to concentrate on romantic novels, but after writing two, she decided that it was not right for her.It was inspired by her youngest daughter, Mia, who was being bullied at school. She wanted to raise awareness of how little help is available to children who are being bullied. Run, Zan, Run was the winner of the Kathleen Fidler Award for new Scottish Writing. Her next book was entitled Fighting Back, and was about loan-sharks.
Fighting back catherine macphail biography summary Macpherson, Jean Jay. Finally, classmate Cam comes to Maxine's rescue, and together the two teens track down the caller and learn the truth of Derek's situation. Kerry's dad has recently left them, and Kerry and her mum are forging a new life together. In addition, she has also produced the humorous "Granny Nothing" series of easy readers about a supersized and problem-solving grandma, and the "Nemesis" teen mystery series about a teen who wakes with amnesia and is forced to run when he learns he is suspected of murder.Fighting Back won one of the first Scottish Arts Council Children's Book Awards in . This was followed by the novel Fugitive.
She wrote a series of four books entitled Nemesis, which concluded in May
Novels
The following are noted on Fantastic Fiction.[7]
Series
Granny Nothing
- Granny Nothing ()
- Granny Nothing and the Shrunken Head ()
- Granny Nothing and the Rusty Key ()
- Granny Nothing and the Secret Weapon ()
- Granny Nothing () reprinted by Strident Publishing with new artwork[8]
- Granny Nothing () reprinted by Strident Publishing Limited with new artwork[8]
Nemesis
- Into the Shadows ()
- The Beast Within ()
- Sinister Intent ()
- Ride of Death ()