– Thanks for joining us here at YALC. We would love you to introduce yourself
I’m G Forsyth-Read a debut YA author who writes about Friendship, Identity, Love and Coming of Age. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me recording my podcast Leave a Message with my co-host Ally Mac or yapping on a different social media platform!
– Can you give our readers an overview of your YA novel Text We Never Sent
Texts is an ode to female friendship and girlhood, following four girls -Nel, Nicole, Maggie and Flo – the cusp of their limbo summer between A-levels and university. When old text messages resurface, they’re pulled back into each other’s lives and forced to confront long-buried secrets, shifting relationships, and the choices that will define who they become. At its heart, the book asks what we owe the people who knew us before we knew ourselves and what happens when the past refuses to stay silent.
– And, if you could do it in just 5 words or less, what would they be?
An ode to female friendship!
– Who was your favourite character to write and why?
I think Flo was the easiet to write because I drew so many parallels from myself and my own life, but Nel was my favourite to write as she had so many layer to explore. She was at a point in her life when everything she thought she knew was being brought into question and that was so fun to get my teeth stuck into.
– Is there a character that you relate to?
Flo! I didn’t mean for her to be such a direct portrayal, but she really is so much of who I was at 17/18. She is chaotic, desperate to be chosen and a people pleaser who needs to learn that if you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one!
– Is there a particular scene that felt rewarding to write?
I loved writing each girls opening scene when they receive the time capsule text messages. We find them in the middle of such different realities, and it was a really rewarding challenge to build their worlds and their character in just one chapter.
I also found it really difficult to write about Flo’s bad body image, but I knew I wanted to include this in the book and felt like it was so important for young girls to read. So when I got through that I was really proud – it brought up a lot of my own insecurities!
– Did the story change or develop differently from what you originally planned?
The story stayed relatively the same but my incredible editor, Tierney Holm was so helpful in showing me where the gaps are, what needed more attention and how we could deepen the girls story arch’s and emotional jeopardy.
– How did you decided which each character would keep hidden and what they would reveal?
I wanted the reader to be almost one step ahead of the characters, uncovering the truth as the girls slowly unravel their own secrets and decide what they’re ready to share and what they’re not. For me, it was important that honesty wasn’t immediate, but something they had to grow back into. When they finally begin to tell each other the things they’ve been holding onto, it marks a turning point: their friendship returning to what it should be: open, honest, and judgement free.
– Is there a character you became more emotionally attached to while writing?
Maggie! I had and have so much love for her. Her storyline tackles the subtle and dangerous warning signs of an unhealthy, controlling relationship which was obviously difficult to write. But I know that so many girls, women, myself included, can relate to this in some way and when you see yourself in her, you ache for her, because of what she is accepting as enough.
– Did you have to do much research before you started the writing process for the book?
I pulled a lot of the storylines from my life, so I was able to do most of my research by sitting and talking to friends who were the inspiration for each character. It was really important to me that Nicole’s storyline felt true to life, so I spent time with my friend who had Toxic Shock, but also did a lot of research around the syndrome to insure Nicole’s story was hers, but also accurate.
– How did you come up with the title? Was it a hard process?
I actually can’t remember! It could have been my editor’s idea, or mine? We threw so many names at the wall that the moment of conception is blurry!
– The title suggests hidden things left unsaid. Why did you choose this idea as a focus of the book?
I think when we’re younger, we don’t always have the language to express what we’re feeling. Sometimes it’s easier to keep things unsaid, because once we say them out loud, they become real and then we have to deal them. But that’s also a crucial part of growing up. Learning to speak honestly, even when it’s difficult, is how we begin to understand ourselves and prioritise what really matters; like friendship, and our own sense of self-worth.
– Where do you write?
Cafes! August or Wylie’s in Clapham, or to be honest anywhere with a good skinny cappuccino and good people watching.
– What is your favourite genre to read?
I love contemporary fiction that centres around relationships; platonic or romantic. Stories with people at its core.
– Where can our readers find you on social media?
@gfrosythread
@allyandg
– Finally, can you give us your favourite quote from a novel (it can be yours!)?
I’m currently reading My Friends by Fredrik Backman, and I have never been so impacted by single sentences. I can’t even pick just one but if I had to – and one that relates to the girls in my book it would be:
“The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them.”