All about The Loudest Roar

 A book about Selective Mutism which became an international seller!

October is also Selective Mutism awareness month. 

Back in 2017, I wrote The Loudest Roar. My eldest daughter was in Primary school back then, and in her circle of friends was a wonderful young lady called Evie. Evie was the first person I had ever encountered who was a selective mute. As I became good friends with her Mum, I learnt about the challenges having selective mutism posed for Evie and her family. Her Mum was desperate to help her, but felt there was so much pressure put upon her daughter to start to speak, which added to her anxieties in her everyday life and within the school environment. One of the biggest issues too seemed to be that it was hard to explain to Evie's peers what Selective Mutism was.

My brain started ticking!

I asked her Mum if there were any books out there that she found helpful when reading to Evie about Mutism, and although she could list some lovely books she had shared, her biggest bugbear was that they all ended with the main character magically talking again. So the pressure to talk was even in her story books, designed to help her!

This is something I had to change.

When thinking about the story, I wanted to portray a brave character, struggling to speak when out in the wide world, but loud and carefree within the home environment, just like Evie. I wanted something child friendly and relatable too, so the main character just had to be a lion! A lion who couldn't roar when at school because the roar felt stuck in its throat.....just like Evie had described it to her Mum.

I named him Angus (something which I have been slated for as being "unfamiliar"!!) because it meant strength. Angus soon became my favourite topic of conversation as I spent more time talking to Evie's mum and finding out facts I could use within the story.

At first, I had some contact with a small independent publishing company who were very keen to get the book up and running. The initial discussions were positive, with a prototype sent to me and lots of brilliant conversations about where the book could lead. Unfortunately, these frequent conversations tailed off, and there were constant set backs and reasons why things weren't moving forward.

I was eager to get this book out there.

I took the plunge and tried Amazons Createspace publishing platform. I created my first title on the platform and was really proud of the results, with my husband Dean providing the illustrations. Yes, it isn't the most professional looking book out there, but The Loudest Roar is my best selling book!

It has sold in several countries...The UK, Ireland, America, Australia and Canada. There have been some sales in China, with a video of me reading it being translated, France and Germany too! The book lead to a television interview on Solent TV (I am based in the South!) and the local newspaper. Many Selective Mutism websites and forums list the book in their bibliographies for trusted resources and I have even had children sending me pictures of themselves dressing up as Angus for World Book Day!

I love how this book has helped so many children in so many schools (one school in Manchester messaged me to tell me how they had a copy for every classroom!!) and has spread the message that just because someone doesn't speak, it doesn't mean they are not clever or have a brilliant personality! It has helped me so much within my current job too!

The Loudest Roar is available on Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/5iwoYyK