A.D. Hutchinson talks about why his fondly remembered experiences as a foster parent led him to become a children’s author, creating a spellbinding adventure like no other, Scholar of the Ebony Crown.
Q. You were inspired to write Scholar of the Ebony Crown because of your rewarding experiences being a foster parent. Can you tell us more about why you were driven to write?
A. There’s a chronic shortage of foster carers all over the UK, and especially black foster families. All children deserve to grow up in a loving and nurturing family environment, and it’s so sad to see some being passed from one family to another, not knowing where they might be the following day. As you’d expect, this has a disruptive impact on their education, on their social activities, and on their friendships.
I firmly believe in the importance of treating all humans fairly and equally, irrespective of whether they are children or adults.. I also know so well from being a foster parent myself how a child can achieve great things if given the right encouragement and nurturing.
Q. How did you come to be a foster parent?
A. I was unemployed because of Ill health but I knew there were many people in the community whose lives were much worse than mine. I approached a volunteers agency to see what I could do to help and it happen that there was a young boy, aged 10 at the time, who was being bullied and refusing to go to school. We arranged for me to meet him and his mother, who was in poor health and couldn’t care for him that well. From there, I helped him come out of his shell, deal with the bullies, and go back to school. The transformation was incredible and today he is a highly successful businessman and proud father of his own. I couldn’t be happier for him.
I think the desire to help others runs in my family. My sister has fostered numerous young children and they have also gone on to great success in their careers and relationships.
Q. There is a chronic shortage of foster parents, especially those from ethnic minorities. What would you say to encourage more people to become foster parents?
A. Anyone who loves helping children will find fostering rewarding, and it should be remembered that your involvement can stop children from going onto the wrong side of the tracks, mixing with the wrong company, and getting themselves into serious trouble. In some cases, this may even prevent a young life otherwise being lost. The importance of fostering cannot be understated.
Q. Scholar of the Ebony Crown isn’t your first book. What else have you written?
A. My very first book was actually a self-help title on coping with rheumatoid arthritis, which I was diagnosed with in my 20s and have lived with ever since. It was released nearly 40 years ago and was very successful at the time. I received numerous endorsements from the media.
I have also written two other books, again being nonfiction. I was a chef before ill health forced my early retirement and so I wrote a few cookery books, one coming out through a major publishing house.
Q. Scholar of the Ebony Crown is a fantasy adventure. Why were you drawn to writing a story in this magical genre?
A. When I was a child, once a month a magician would come to our school, and he would performed some of the greatest and most mesmerising, magic and illusion tricks. My love and fascination with magic has stayed with me ever since.
I am also a big fan of the BBC Wildlife programmes with, Sir David Attenborough. It’s incredible to see how amazing animals are, and I get a lot of inspiration from watching them on TV. They’re very clever, be it spiders using their webs to catch insects to birds lifting massive bones and dropping, them while high up in the sky to shatter the them and releases the juicy marrows, inside of it. It’s funny to think that some of the most ‘magical’ sights and abilities can be found all around us.
Q. Scholar of the Ebony Crown sees young hero Eddy connect for the first time with his racial heritage. Why do you think it is important for BAME foster children to be raised in a culturally diverse home environment?
A. My sister, a church minister, fosters children of any race or faith, and they are all treated equally.
However, some children feel more comfortable being around people who look more like them, and who share the same culture. That doesn’t mean that a white couple is any less loving that a black foster couple, but the latter could more easily help a black foster child connect with their culture and forge their identity.
Q. Tell us more about your previous life as a top chef?
A. I was trained at the world-renowned, Michelin-Starred Mirabelle Restaurant in Mayfair, London.
My most enjoyable time was working at the Grosvenor House Hotel, on Park Lane, London. I used to catering for the Miss World contestants, in the Banqueting Kitchen, after they left the Royal Albert Hall. I met TV legend Sir Bruce Forsyth’s wife the night she won the Miss World contest, and on another occasion Bob Marley’s girlfriend, who was crowned Miss World after already scooping the Miss Jamaica title.
Being a chef was a fantastic career and I’m only sorry that ill health meant I had to retire early. I met all the great chefs: Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing, Michel Roux Jr., and Jamie Oliver.
Q. You take great joy in describing food within the book, especially Jamaican food. Why is this, and what is so delicious about Jamaican food?
A. When I was training as a chef, I studied in a French kitchen. It was only after returning back to the Caribbean and visiting many tourists resorts across Jamaica that I realised just how delicious the food is. One think that struck me especially was how fresh the food is, with most meats and fish being freshly caught.
Q. What do you hope children get most out of your novel?
A. I hope the magical adventure with Eddy Trotter brings then enjoyment from the first chapter to the last. There are a lot of important life lessons that youngsters can learn from Eddy and his story, such as always staying positive, the importance of being nice to each other, and the power of forgiveness. These are moral lessons that make the world better for us all.
I also hope they are encouraged to read more books after finishing my novel. Reading is so important for helping young minds grow.
Scholar of the Ebony Crown by A.D. Hutchinson is out now on Amazon in paperback and eBook formats, priced £11.99 and 79p respectively. For more information, visit www.ADHutchinson.com.