David and Leo initially come together as math tutee and tutor but slowly become friends. Leo arrives with a reputation as a tough guy and just wants to remain alone to do his schoolwork, at which he excels, but falls for Alicia and begins dating her-until she learns that he’s biologically female. An attack at school leads him to transfer to David’s much-better one. Fifteen-year-old Leo, on the other hand, was born with a girl’s body but has lived as a boy most of his life, with the knowledge and help of his dysfunctional, poor-side-of-town family. This eventually became The Art of Being Normal.įilms: Stand By Me, Meet Me In St.Two British transgender teens try to come to terms with their lives while facing serious bullying in their school.įourteen-year-old David has always known that she wants to be a girl but has kept it secret from everyone, including her family, telling only her two best friends. The young people who used the service inspired me to write a story from the point of view of a transgender teenager. GIDS is the NHS highly specialised clinic for under-eighteens struggling with their gender identity. Completing it freed me up to write something new and not necessarily based on my own personal experience.īetween 20, I worked as an administrator at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), based at the world-famous Tavistock Centre in North London. Although no one wanted to publish it, I was excited to discover I could actually write something with a beginning, middle and end. In my late twenties, I found myself craving an additional creative outlet and started to write a novel about an out of work actor. I’ve always loved books and stories and as a child I enjoyed making up stories in my head (usually rip-offs of Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton). These days I act in lots of TV commericals, usually playing the role of 'dishevelled mum’. After graduation, I adopted the stage name of Lisa Cassidy (Lisa Williamson was already taken by Dawn from Hollyoaks…) and did all sorts of daft acting jobs, from appearing in panto with Basil Brush, to playing a Witch in Macbeth: The Musical. Here I met some of my very best mates and spent three bizarre but happy years singing show tunes and rolling around in fake blood, blagging a degree in the process. I eventually got over my shyness and aged nineteen, moved to London to study Performing Arts at Middlesex University. Then for some strange and unexpected reason, I decided I wanted to be an actor.
Chronically shy, I spent a lot of time drawing and hiding under tables. I’m suitably terrified! I think I like to write for young adults because I still feel like I am one. I was born in Nottingham in 1980, which means I’ve now been an adult for well over half my life.
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