From Novelist to Screenwriter: How Certified Led to Escorted

When Certified was published in 2021, I thought I had finally achieved something I'd wanted to do for a very long time. I'd written a novel, found a publisher and, to my surprise, readers seemed to connect with the story. The awards and recognition that followed were the icing on the cake.

What I didn't expect was that Certified would lead me back to something I'd loved as a teenager: scriptwriting.

As part of promoting the novel, I began experimenting with adapting the story for television. Initially, it was simply a creative challenge. How do you take a story that lives inside a reader's imagination and bring it to life through dialogue, action and character?

The more I worked on the adaptation, the more I realised how much I enjoyed writing for the screen. It required a different way of thinking. Characters had to reveal themselves through what they said and did, rather than through narration. Every scene had to earn its place. Every line had to work harder.

The adaptation of Certified opened the door to a new creative path. It introduced me to screenwriting competitions, development opportunities and, most importantly, the discipline of writing scripts.

That journey eventually led to Escorted, an original television drama set in Yorkshire. While the premise is very different, the themes remain familiar. Like Certified, it explores relationships, difficult choices and ordinary people trying to navigate extraordinary circumstances.

Looking back, it's strange to think that a novel about birth, marriage and death ultimately led me into television drama.

Writing Certified changed my life in ways I never expected. Not because of the awards or recognition, but because it helped me rediscover a passion I thought I'd left behind many years earlier.

And for that, I'll always be grateful.