Richard MacSween was born in Scotland but has lived mostly in the north of England. He graduated from Leeds University in 1978 in English/Art History, has had a variety of jobs - barwork, forestry, factory work, the building trade - and recently has been teaching English in an FE college.

His first novel for teenagers, THE FIRING (Andersen 2002), was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2002. His second, VICTORY STREET, is set in a northern town during the race riots of 2001.

He also writes drama - a four-hander INVENTNG MAX played at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2002 - and has had short sories broadcast on radio. Currently he is working on a play set in the mid-C17th about a group of actors, and on a new novel.

Other interests include poetry (including doing readings), teaching, and judging creative writing.

He lives in Colne, Lancashire with his partner and sometimes with their three children, and has wide interests: music, politics, theatre, art, building and cooking to mention quite enough.

Ellie lives in a very rough part of Boltby, an industrial town in the North West of England, and she often feels that she is the only sensible member of her family. Her mother is always on the tiles, her older brother is more absent than present, and her younger brother has Down's Syndrome: they all need looking after one way or another.

But the bright spot in her life is the little antique writing desk that comes into her mother's 'Antique' Shop, which by its very existence encourages her to write. Unfortunately she has really got a lot to write about, what with drive-by racists haunting their street, BNP stickering, and Asian lads fed up with being victimised.

As she becomes intrigued by the refugee story of her Jewish neighbour, who escaped from Germany after Kristallnacht, Ellie is herself unwittingly diarising the build up to race riots and widespread mayhem.