Teenage car thief inspires city author

Published on Thursday 9 October 2008 09:59

LISTENING to him reveal some of the darkest secrets of the joyriding scene, author Linda Strachan knew she had found the voice she had been looking for.

The teenager confided in her, explaining why he and his friends were motivated to steal cars, how they did it and what their greatest fears were as they sped around the city illegally.

"There were things he said that made me realise exactly where he was coming from," she says. "It was just what I needed – he gave me a voice for my book."

Linda certainly doesn't do things by halves. Speaking from her Aberlady home, the married mother of three grown-up children brims with enthusiasm as she discusses her latest book, Spider, a teenage novel exploring the lives of three 15-year-olds who love to joyride. The book is an emotional, harrowing yet entertaining, non-judgemental take on what that passion for speed does to them, told through their own experiences.

Speaking first-hand with a teenage joyrider was just part of her extensive research for the novel, which began over five years ago as a vague idea in her busy "butterfly brain" – this year alone she has released a further two works.

A night shift with the ambulance service, long interviews with the police and a gruelling emergency rescue training session with the fire service in Gullane were all slotted into the hectic schedule of the Edinburgh-born author, best known for her Hamish McHaggis books for children.

"I was literally able to hear the sounds my characters would in a car," she says. "My first thoughts were that, as a teenager, you may do something because it is exciting at the time. You never think something bad will happen to you – that's why I wanted to get my characters to tell their own story."

Linda has come a long way from the girl who was told she had no imagination by a teacher at the Capital's former St Margaret's Convent School, on Whitehouse Loan.

At the tender and impressionable age of seven, she saw an end-of-year report, advising her parents "the child lacks imagination".

"For the rest of my life, I never considered doing anything creative," she laughs. "It was a rather unfortunate thing to have written really. I read an awful lot of books at the time and I did have a good imagination."

But even though former model Linda, who began writing in the early 1990s, has well and truly established herself on the international writing scene – she has 50 children's works published across the world – she didn't take on the task of writing for teenagers lightly.

Spider is her first work for the older market. It is a far cry from the hugely popular Hamish McHaggis series, which follows the creature and his friends – Angus the pine marten, Rupert the English hedgehog and Jeannie the osprey – as they travel across Scotland on exciting and educational journeys.

"I was almost shying away from doing this," she admits. "If teenagers aren't interested in a book, that's it."

But, judging from the enthusiasm she shows when discussing the work, it seems unlikely that this will be her last release in the highly competitive teenage literature scene.

Linda's success in the market will, inevitably, rest on her passionate belief that children should not be patronised or instructed through literature. Her philosophy is that if they find her work enjoyable, if they can immerse themselves in her tales, escape from life for just a few hours at a time through what she has written, then she will have done her job.

"If this book puts people off joyriding, then that's great. But it's not my job, though – that's to entertain.

"Spider was never written with any other intention in mind – it is certainly not about preaching a message."

It is this deep-rooted belief in the power of the printed word that compelled Linda to make sure she knew exactly what she was talking about when she wrote Spider, which is titled after its lead character – a teenage boy.

If she didn't know her characters and their mind-sets, there was no way she could hope to reach out to readers of their age.

And so she met with a teenage joyrider to hear his story. Arranged through the Gorebridge-based group RUTS (Rural and Urban Training Scheme), she spoke in confidence with a boy who was, at the time, using the project to get his life back on track. The scheme allows vulnerable young people to learn skills through repairing motorbikes and engines.

Just what is it that compels teenagers to risk their lives by stealing cars and driving them recklessly?

"We all make assumptions about people, don't we, but he made me see why he did it – basically because it was what the other kids were doing," she says.

But the thrill that he got from the experience clearly dampened any concerns he had over stealing, driving without a licence or even crashing.

"He told me how they did it and things they worried about when out joyriding. I wasn't sure whether they would phone for help if there was a crash. He was able to say a firm 'yes – come and get me', he laughed."

The teenager helped her shape her characters, allowing her the confidence to let them take the lead in telling the story, rather than a third-person "adult voice".

So where does Linda go now: back to Hamish, stay with teenagers or on to fiction for adults?

"It's strange that you should ask about writing for adults," she laughs. Admitting she had given the genre some thought, she reveals there may be a project in the pipeline, as well as another Hamish book for next year and a release for the ten to 12-year-old market.

"I have a bit of a butterfly brain – I'll probably do a bit of everything," she again laughs.

660 OFFENCES A YEAR AT CITY HOTSPOT

CASES of joyriders blighting communities across Edinburgh and the Lothians are not difficult to find.

Niddrie is one of the Capital's most notorious joyriding hotspots, with police being called out to 660 traffic offences in the area throughout 2007. Most were committed by young thieves, driving without insurance or a licence.

But no area of the city is immune from the trouble that joyriders bring.

In February 2007, two 14-year-old boys were ordered by the authorities to live in a secure unit after stealing more than 100 cars and motorbikes in their Craigmillar neighbourhood.

On one occasion, the pair were seen riding a stolen Suzuki motorbike around a field. Residents reported a substantial drop in vehicle crime after the boys were removed from the area.

In the same month, joyriders caused thousands of pounds of damage in the New Town after losing control of a stolen Ford Ka from the Pilrig area of the city.

Two cars and motorbike were among the casualties as the driver failed to manoeuvre a turn into Northumberland Street. The occupants of the stolen car fled the scene, abandoning their vehicle on Queen Street.

In June, three teenage joyriders stole a forklift truck from an industrial estate in Livingston, smashing it through the site's metal gates, causing 1600 of damage.