Amanda asked Sally Green:

Firstly I would like to say that I am honored to so easily reach out to you! I was utterly captivated with your use of 1st person style from the page one! When I read that this was your first book I was super surprised because it just flowed so well! How did you decide on 1st person? Where you influenced by anyone in particular?

Sally Green Hi Amanda,

Thanks for the question and I'm so glad you enjoyed HALF BAD.

In Half Bad I mix the use of first person for the bulk to the book with some second person (in the opening and again later in the book but in the same period of Nathan's life in the cage). I guess the second person sections are those you're referring to?

It's a major decision to write in first person for a start - and another major decision to use some second person.

First person was a perfect choice for me here as I could really get inside Nathan's head and show how he was thinking. However, that meant I couldn't show things that I would have loved to include - for example a Council Meeting at which he is being discussed but doesn't attend.

Second person is tricky and some people hate it, but I love it. I wanted to use it to show that Nathan was very disturbed and almost going mad and was alienated from himself. I was influenced by how Iain Banks used it in his book 'Complicity'.

Hope that answers your question.

Sally

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