Local author publishes first book at the age of 75

Marjorie Stenning, a former teacher at St Peter’s School, Kettering, had her children’s novel ‘The Trouble with Max’ published by Austin McCauley publishers earlier this year.

“They always say to write about what you know,” says Marjorie, “and I know quite a lot about kids so I thought a children’s book would be the best way to go.”

The book is aimed at 10-12 year olds and is about eleven-year old Max who is struggling to fit in at school and when his mum starts seeing a new boyfriend his life gets even worse. His feelings of isolation lead him to befriend a group of older boys and join in some of their dubious activities. From then on he is on a downhill path until he meets someone who takes a real interest in him. It’s a story exploring the challenges young people can face, wanting to belong and the importance of being accepted for who you are.

“It took me a long time, writing in between doing other things and I really enjoyed the process” says Marjorie, “but I never really thought much about publishing. It seemed a scary business, like sending your precious child out into the world to be judged and criticized and potentially rejected.”

Then along came Covid with all the mental health issues that that threw up, particularly with children who had had their education and social lives so badly disrupted so Marjorie decided that this might be a good time to try for publication.

“What the heck, I thought, once I’d plucked up enough courage, nothing to lose except maybe a little bit of pride and since books are written to be read I reasoned that my book should at least be given a chance.”

‘Max’ is the first in a series of six. All of them centred around the same primary school and the year six class in particular. Max is at the beginning and his story covers the first half term of the year from Sept to Oct, the second book from Oct to Christmas and so on until the whole year is covered. Each book has a different main character and explores a particular issue that may be facing children of that age and how they deal with these challenges.

Nobody was more surprised than Marjorie was when all three of the publishers she contacted offered a deal. Austin Macauley’s was the best so she decided to go with them.

Marjorie won’t easily forget the day she got the email from them confirming their acceptance. “I couldn’t believe it at first, it all seemed very unreal as though it were happening to someone else. I never thought at the great age of 75 something like this would happen to me. It just goes to show it’s never too late to take that plunge and try for something that may have seemed way out of your grasp.”

The Trouble with Max is available to buy on Amazon and Waterstones for £7.99