A ten-year-old boy from Penge has recently published his first book that he started and completed during the national lockdown in 2020.
Jackson Wild began his writing journey at the age of nine during the pandemic, when he was home schooled by parents, Franz, and Becky.
Inspired by his family who fought in the war and curiosities about the conflict, Jackson wrote the book, Soldier, which is based during World War One.
Jackson's great-grandfather Otto Veit (bottom left), who served in the German army alongside his two brothers and father in World War One (images: the Veit Family)
Jackson began writing his novel in October 2020 – at just nine years old – and finished the entire story five months later.
As Jackson is a debut writer and only a child, he hasn’t found an agent or publisher, so his dad, Franz edited the final draft of the story.
Jackson, who is now 10, told the News Shopper: “The story is about a boy called Alfie Tuck, who is 17, and his brothers Harley and Fred go off to World War One.
“The British army suffers lots of losses and the brothers experience the horrors of the war but survive and make it home.
“When I started researching about the war, I wanted to know more about the horrors of the trenches, so I decided to put it all down onto paper.
The HMS Malaya on which Wellington Morgan served. (images: Maritime Quest)
“I spent quite a long time writing my story, but I did enjoy it as a hobby to do during lockdown.”
Jackson’s parents, Franz, and Becky would often read their son’s work, but Franz says he had “barely any input” about the story and how to write it.
Jackson’s dad, Franz, told the News Shopper: “Towards the end of Jackson finishing the book, we decided the story should be self-published, as he is a child and working with a professional editor could be a challenge.
“I made a final edit for his work, but I couldn’t edit it in an authentic way as the voice of the story is from a child’s perspective.”
Jackson's great-grandfather Wellington Morgan, a British petty officer during World War Two, who served as a stoker on the HMS Malaya. (images: the Morgan Family)
Jackson says his dog, Hunter, would lay next to him whilst he envisioned and wrote each chapter.
He added: “Hunter would stare at me as though she was encouraging me to write.
“I didn’t have anyone helping me whilst writing the story.
“Although my brother, Otis, was prying on my every word.
“My favourite part of the story is where Alfie is in the worst battle of the war, the Battle of the Somme, and it’s on the first day.
“It’s the biggest action scene of the book, I’d say, and I enjoyed writing that a lot, because I found I got really into it.
“I think it might be one of the longest chapters in the book.”
Franz says that he and his wife are “unbelievably proud” of their son and what he has achieved over the past year.
Jackson Wild and his book, Soldier (image: The Wild Family)
Franz added: “I am bowled over with his achievements.
“It’s a nice feeling to visit a friend’s house, and you can see they've bought a copy and they're reading, really enjoying it.
“What's really nice to see is friends of ours have also sent us photos of their kids kind of really engrossed in it.
“I love this because I'm his dad and it's amazing to see other people who wouldn't probably read it, but they can’t get enough of it.”
You can buy Soldier on Amazon here
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