I was born on Thursday the 2nd of May 1996 in Lower Hutt, New Zealand; during the era when emails were a technologically advanced form of communication, Friends was one of the most popular sitcoms on television and the whole world was beginning to panic about the Y2K problem. A ‘millennial’ or ‘Generation Z ‘is the terminology most commonly referred to for my generation. I was the first born child to a secretary and a truck driver. Mother was British and Father was a Kiwi with a bit of Maori heritage. This makes me half British, half Kiwi and part Maori belonging to the tribe Ngāti Kahungunu. I am also a proud member of the LGBTQI+ community. I consider myself to be eclectic in regards to both culture and character.
I graduated from the University of Canterbury with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and Sociology in 2017 and moved to Ireland in 2019 in order to pursue my ambition of becoming a writer of children’s fiction and travel the world.
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, most of my male peers were passionate about indulging in Playstation games for hours on end, watching wrestling matches and chasing each other around on a rugby field. But I was the antithesis of a stereotypical male. I was always intrigued by playing dress-ups as a young child and jamming away to Like a Virgin by Madonna in the shower during my teenage years. All throughout my childhood and adolescence, I always felt different and out of place, and I was frequently told by my peers that I couldn’t play dress-ups or watch Hannah Montana simply because I was a boy. Little did I realise that one day I would end up writing a children’s story with a similar theme about a girl who plays football and is frequently told by her peers that she can’t play football because she’s a girl. The story was not only inspired by my own experiences as a child, but also from watching my younger sister playing football and through my immense passion for feminism, which I frequently read about during my university years.
When growing up, I was very fond of Beatrix Potter’s stories, and even her life story of becoming an author evolved from Beatrix pursuing her own dreams despite the fact that her family had a strong perception about a woman’s place in society.
Shortly after moving to Ireland, I suddenly hatched an idea to write a children’s book with a feminist theme and an inspirational message to children in order to inspire them to follow their dreams and encourage them to be their own original and unique character. As I wrote the very first words of my story, I hadn’t the faintest idea of where they would take me to. But after weeks of writing and editing until I was satisfied with my final draft, I finally submitted my story to a vast variety of publishers. And eight months later, Eloise the Football Champion was released. The story focuses on a school girl called Eloise who has a strong interest in playing football. Her male peers have their doubts that she can succeed in a football match simply because she’s a girl. However, she proves the boys wrong when she participates in the school football tournament and astonishes them when they discover that she can run faster than them, score more goals and ultimately win the tournament. When Eloise is presented with a trophy for her victorious achievement and lifted into the air by her male peers, she realises that she can accomplish anything if she sets her mind to it.
I really hope that my story will become an inspiration to many children around the world and encourage them to follow their dreams.
Get yourself a copy of Liam’s book, here!
