Roger Haines and Sarah Green two Tewkesbury authors on everything from their current projects to debut work and why they never imagined they would end up writing. 

 

Haines and Green, both Former English teachers in Tewkesbury, recently visited my school and I, alongside a fellow pupil, was able to interview them. We began asking about their careers and what led to their current careers. Roger began by telling us about how when he and Sarah met and began writing together he said he “didn’t think I would be doing writing particularly I was very much I'll do the illustration.” Roger also went on to say that he and Sarah had written many books in the beginning of their writing careers together that haven't been published. The fact that Haines originally thought he would be illustrated first was extremely interesting to me due to the fact that Green is an avid horse fan and even has a book out on how to draw horses. 


 

However, although they both have many books out together they have their own writing styles and book series. Haines expressed his love for ghost stories ”I like mysteries and puzzles.. Ghost stories things like that”  and that this was where he found inspiration for his ghostly trilogy and his two main characters Emma Houdini and James Price. This is quite different to Green who writes more about fantasy and overcoming fear and obstacles placed before you; she described her books as having a “slightly more historical approach.” This is present in her duology ‘The Cob Swift Books’ where a boy who can speak dragon needs to use his bravery and talent to work hard to save his family in a world where The Secret Beasts - animals of mythological tales; unicorns, krakens and basilisks - roam in silence and mystery. 

 

Both authors explained to us about their other ventures into writing different mediums but neither explored it too far. Whilst discussing the fact that we were taking part in the young reporter scheme Roger told us “I did work experience at a newspaper in Gloucester, the Gloucester citizen… I did a week there and it immediately told me I never wanted to be a journalist!” That being said, he went on to tell us that he has managed to write a few articles for local newspapers and magazines to promote his books. Green also told us about writing she has done in the past. In a discussion we had about whether myself or my friend had ever done much writing before or who ever considered doing more in the future she told us about the fact that she used to “write poetry”. Sarah told us that her favourite book and the one that has inspired her to write has always been “Little Women” - Louisa May Alcott, due to the fact that Jo March was such an interesting and inspiring character to her “to be a writer that is the ultimate that anybody can do”. 

 

We ended with a discussion about the networking that they partake in to promote their books. They both said that they are hoping to expand the reach their books get with frequent updates on their social media accounts (Instagram - @rogerhaines18 and @sarahg_author ) and detailed amazon author pages. Haines and Green are also open to doing more author talks such as the ones they held at our school and hoping to inspire new authors into taking the plunge into writing and perhaps just like Haines, illustrating.