Writing The Locked Up Boy

I wrote The Locked Boy in 2010 because I was hungry for a love story and I could not get my hands on one that I liked. I wrote it within a few weeks, but of course, the storyline was very rough.

In 2011, I decided to try for the Scholastic Asian Book Award competition. I anguished over the manuscript I would submit. It has to promote good values, be inspirational and universal, etc. With such a tall order, I developed just as big a mental block. My mind was blank.

Eventually, out of sheer determination, I bashed out a story on my keyboard. It had the elements on my checklist – it had a moral at the ending, was peppered with inspirational quotes and touched on universal values. There was one hitch… it was boring.

Of course, I did…