I still pinch myself when I find myself having to say the words ‘I’m an author.‘ It took me a long time to even use that title. For years, I thought of myself as a youth worker, and someone who just scribbled my ideas in notebooks and stayed up all night pulling them into workshops, toolkits, and lesson plans. I never imagined that the things I wrote at my dining room table, mostly for teenagers, teachers, and youth workers would one day end up on a bookshelf.

But here I am, celebrating something I once only dreamed of… my second book deal!

The book is called Behind Every Strong Girl is a Strong Girls Group! and it’s written for teachers, youth workers, and anyone who supports girls and young women through group work or one-to-one sessions. At its heart, this book is a reminder of the power of good girls’ work and how supportive and life-shaping it can be. And I know this first-hand because as a teenager, Broadoak girls’ group is a huge part of what made me who I am today, and that’s why this book is so personal.

The road between book one and book two

This second book didn’t come easily. Between my first deal and this one, life threw me many personal curveballs, that I never saw coming. My marriage ended, I became a single mum, I lost my mum to cancer, and the fallout of Covid left me financially in pieces and having to close Tough Cookies Education, the business I was extremely passionate and proud of. Writing through grief, heartbreak, and chaos was really tough, but so am I. My first book was also published under my married name, and within months of it launching, that name wasn’t mine anymore.

After rebuilding my life, I knew I wanted to try again. To write something in my new but old name, in my voice, in my new chapter. But my first publisher didn’t want it, in fact, they kept me waiting over a year before saying no. But I didn’t give up, back at my desk, I shared the idea with another publisher, and they said yes. That yes was everything. I can honestly say I’ve not felt happier than I did that day in a long time.

Why this book matters

Behind Every Strong Girl is a Strong Girls Group isn’t just a professional resource, it’s a piece of my heart. It’s about the kind of work I believe in most, creating spaces where girls and young women can grow their confidence, build resilience, and become empowered women. It’s about passing on the same sense of belonging and strength that carried me through my own teenage years into adulthood.

What’s next

This is just the start of me sharing my author journey more openly. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a mini-series about the highs and lows of writing, what I learned from my first book, and a peek behind the bookshelf, the story of how the resource gets written.

But for now, I just want to say: I’m so proud, so grateful, and so excited to finally share this news. Book two is coming. And I cannot wait to see it in youth clubs and schools everywhere.

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