'I was suffering from Covid when I had a dream that I've turned into a fantasy book'
When Sarah Burton left school at 15, she had not a single qualification to her name. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven, she says she struggled throughout her time in education.
But despite the condition, which can cause difficulties with reading, writing and spelling, Sarah, now 58, has recently released her debut book and is already taking steps to turn it into a series.
"It has been hard work,” she admits. “As a child, I just did not get on with school whatsoever but there was a lot of grit and determination after I left.”
Sarah, who writes under the pen name S T Burton, first found work in nannying and hospitality. After securing qualifications in maths and English at college, she then became a teaching assistant, later working with children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
These days, she takes SEN children to and from school in the area where she lives close to Castle Howard. She’s also often scribbling away in the grounds of the country house, working on book two, based on Hardraw falls.
Her debut book Elouise and the Golden Butterfly follows the story of an ordinary girl in the Yorkshire Dales who gets summoned into a magical realm full of strange and wonderful creatures.
"She goes on a quest and meets all these different characters and it’s basically a fairytale,” Sarah explains. “It’s aimed at children and young adults…
"I’ve done the book so that it hasn’t got any drawings in it because I’m wanting readers to make their own creatures up in their head from the descriptions. I want them to use their imaginations.”
The story was, in part, conjured up from a dream. Sarah stirred one night and began jotting down what she could so vividly remember from the thoughts, images, and sensations in her mind during sleep. "I didn’t realise I was so creative-minded,” she says.
The dream occurred whilst Sarah was struggling with the impact of the Covid-19 virus.
"I basically got long Covid (in 2021) and wasn’t very well at all because it attacked my liver and parts of my body you wouldn’t think Covid would attack,” she says.
“I’m now back working full-time so it’s not affecting me like it did do. I was bad for about a year with it. It was the fatigue, I was so tired, I could hardly walk anywhere.
"People say there isn’t such as thing as long-Covid but living through it, there is and it does affect people in different ways.”
Writing the book was something to focus on in a difficult time.
"It’s taken me four years to write this book and get it where it is now,” Sarah says. “I hope people enjoy it...I did actually write it as a (film) script as well so I’m hoping it takes off into a big way.”
Elouise and the Golden Butterfly is out now and available to purchase through the likes of Waterstones and Amazon.