HER NAME IS JAMES

 

     At fifteen years old, James Farrow was removed from home by social services for his own safety. Now he is eighteen, he is no longer the responsibility of the welfare state. Returning home to an uncertain reception, James finds his father has mellowed and his brother is delighted to have his hero back. 

     Life could run smoothly for James now he is home again but he has a painful truth to confess; James is transgender. He’s always known he wasn’t intended to be born a boy but now he wants to begin his transition into the woman he should be. 

     Even before he faces his family, a ghost from his past emerges. A friend who seeks to blackmail him for an act recorded he wishes hadn’t happened. Fear of his past being exposed, he agrees to the friend’s demands with unpleasant repercussions. 

     Just as things couldn’t get worse for the young teenager, his brother learns his hero is much less than he thought and the younger sibling’s anger becomes physical. James has one confidante, a friend since childhood; Tina is his support through all his anguish but she too rocks his world when she admits she loves him. Confused and struggling to come to terms with his own feelings, James needs to find a resolution that both meets his needs and is accepted by friends and family alike. .

 

          THE GYPSY'S LIE

               Published 11th Sept 2015

 

     It’s the summer of 1953 and in the South of England, Mickey Ray is living a lie. Mickey is a bareknuckle boxer, a prize-fighting gypsy who is the son of the Romany camp’s leader. He is eighteen and is engaged to Rosa, a strong, traditional Romany girl. Mickey’s lie is simple, he is gay in a society that won’t worry about the illegality of the fact, they would see him dead for it.

     Mickey accepted a long time ago how his life would be but he has a chance encounter with a local teenager. Tom is a quiet, introverted boy; raised by his mother after his father died in the war. His education places him between being a labourer and a clerk and as such, he fits in neither world. Solitary and frequently bullied, the youth spends his time buried in library books.

     When Mickey and Tom meet, Mickey has the first glimpse of a possible alternate future than obligation dictated to him.