Frank Melling

You hear about kids who could sing and dance before they could walk - well, I was a bit like this with telling stories. The snag was that working class kids like me were supposed to get their hands dirty and do real work – not mess about with typewriters.

This is why I became a motorcycling journalist – a profession where my background didn’t hold me back.

So far, I have written something in the region of 1500 full length feature stories and 17 books. I’m still writing about bikes today and I enjoy every single article.

As well as bike magazines I wrote for posh publications such as “The Daily Telegraph” and “The Guardian”.

I also found that I could write more than stories about bikes. So in between getting paid, and very well too, for motorcycling features I produced everything with words from film scripts to advertisements – science fiction to satire.

Instead of the Infant being told to shut up and be quiet, I found that people actually liked me telling them stories.

This brings us to my latest book: “Hostie”. Writing in the voice of a 22 year old woman has been a very different experience. Yet Rachel, the book’s heroine, remains one of us – an ordinary person who, through her own efforts and with a little help from fate, achieves remarkable things. In this way she is you, and I guess me too in some small way: I do hope that you enjoy her story.

Thanks for reading.

Frank