John Young

Truth

Ups and Downs

I wrote the attached short story after my daughter Verity died in 2009. I was encouraged to publish it as shared experiences help others. I didn’t try, because the story was too close, painful and raw. Instead it became a seed for Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist. 

Terminal Optimist recounts friendship between bully (Skeates) and his victim (Connor) as they run away from Stornaway to Shotts to discover why Connor’s dad spent the past seven years in prison. What act could be so vile that his Mum had to kept it a secret? There’s nothing like withholding information to fire a lad’s determination so he drops everything including his cancer medication to go on this quest. The answer blows that friendship apart then tests its strength as they fight off thugs and the Grim Reaper. It’s an uplifting story but, like life, Connor has his fair share of challenges. 

The greatest writing hurdle was to find humour in pain whilst retaining emotion so that anyone experiencing similar feelings might find solace. Creativity helped me but the journey was not without agonies. Writing brings escape but it also exposes emotions and when someone reads any narrative it becomes their own and they’ll never understand it the way you do. That’s the beauty of script and the beast. 

The film options for Terminal Optimist expired recently, killed by volume of post covid backlog and changing commissioning market. Commercial platitudes didn’t make that news any less painful and disappointing to hear. 

I feel it is time to return to the roots of the story and here it is as a sort of book obituary. It’s written backwards to preserve the happiest of memories, in two voices, Verity’s and mine.

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The Black Bag

Happy go lucky Harry Soul has his future prosperity hidden in a black bag but The Macadam thugs are after it. When Harry is kidnapped by Macadam’s enforcer, war vet Arthur Munro, and interrogated by Macadam, his life is ripped apart. After fourteen years of blaming Arthur for this misfortune he’s given the opportunity for revenge, but although Munro is the one suffering from Alzheimer’s it’s Harry who should be questioning his own memories in this story that warns of the dangers of recollections and revenge.

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Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist

Quick witted, sharp-tongued Connor Lambert won't take it any longer: the bullying, the secrets, the sympathy. He's been dying for years, but he's not dead yet. He's going down fighting.

Forming an unlikely friendship with fellow juvenile delinquent Skeates, the pair stage a break out and set off on a crazy route across Scotland to find Connor's dad, an inmate at Shotts prison. But Connor's left two things behind - the medication he needs to keep him alive, and the girl who makes living bearable.

Dodging the police, joy riding and extreme partying - if Connor's dying, he might as well enjoy one last wild adventure.

Visit the website!

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The Two Faces Of A Gift Horse

When American Medical student’s surprise inheritance threatens her life she must fight for survival while trapped on a remote Irish island. 

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Sandy the Starfish

Colourfully illustrated using cartoons, this interactive lift flap book is a must have for anyone with a child under 6 who is having injections and boosters.

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The Success of Failure

A short story by John Young about Swimming the English Channel

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Hidden (Sometimes you are better off not knowing)

Any number of people had reason to assault Harry Bains but his seventeen year old step son Lorn McGregor is the one in custody, and he needs to get out.

Lorn is helped by school librarian, Nadia, and his friends, to cope with bullying at school and the horrors of his abusive step dad, Harry Bains. An attack on Bains exposes Nadia’s own nefarious background (she was a Russian assassin) and Lorn knows a way to help her and redeem himself but is stuck inside a police station. Think, Killing Eve mixed with Grange Hill.

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