I am a debut author,  writing under the pen name of SJ Hutchings. The title of my first book is ‘Abandoned’  , the  genre of book is crime fiction.
The back drop to the story shows a society that cannot care for its most vulnerable members. The book has a social conscience.   Two of the main characters in the book are women, I believe  I have emphasised their strengths without angst  or prejudice. As a gay woman I feel the character of Alex Newman is a strong representative of a woman, at ease with her sexuality, her relationship is placed in context of mainstream society. The content of the book emphasises issues that are very relevant in society today.  Although a work of fiction it is heavily influenced by more than twenty five years of working with young people in the community.

Below is a short statement about myself:

I born in Manchester in 1958. One of six children I grew up in relative poverty and left school at 16 to start work when my father was made redundant. In 1981 I applied for a  position  for a residential social worker in a Children’s Home and left home to begin a career working with children and young people with emerging mental health issues.  In 2004, she moved to Oxford to work with children who were exploited by community gangs. Having lived in the south for five years I moved back to my native north west.

I am married to Carol, I live in Southport and have a dog and a cat.