A message from the author.

Runaway Road is the story of Ezra and Evie. The book’s original title was I Once Was Lost, from the line in John Newton’s hymn, Amazing Grace. Grace, AKA second chances, or ‘cutting people some slack,’ as Evie puts it, is one of the themes at the heart of this book.

I’m often inspired by the stunning landscapes in the north-west of Ireland, and the ‘Wild Atlantic Way,’ so, when pondering ideas for my third novel, I wanted to set it in Derry and Donegal. This location allowed me to explore the issues facing Northern Ireland (and these islands) about borders and identity. Walking the beaches around Buncrana, the connection with John Newton’s transformation also resonated - his time in the slave trade, his near-death experience and conversion to Christianity, and his abolitionist work towards ending slavery. Being given a second chance allowed him to make a huge, positive difference. Do we give people today that space, that grace, to change? We may not always agree, but sometimes, with cancel-culture and tension between political extremes, it feels like we simplify, categorise and box people. Have we lost the power to listen? Does devaluing listening, risk devaluing people?

This novel, like Guard Your Heart and Truth Be Told, is set in the real, contemporary context of Northern Ireland. 2023. Post-Conflict. Post-Brexit. Post-Covid. It is however more social than political. It’s about belonging, finding family and friendship. Ezra and Evie have struggled all their lives to fit. In 2024 there were over 4000 children in the care system in Northern Ireland – often due to abuse and neglect. The legacy of ‘The Troubles’ means that some children here are vulnerable to gang or paramilitary influences. Also, in 2025, one in every 17 school-age children in Northern Ireland had an autism (ASD) diagnosis. With experience of neurodiversity in my own family, Evie’s voice somersaulted off the page with all her unique wonderfulness. Ezra required more research, with some deep insights from insiders in the Youth Justice and policing services. When people do wrong, do we give them a second chance?

Northern Ireland is a place of increasing diversity, and the legacy of Brexit has thrown up big questions. Ezra and Evie are broadly from the British identity in Northern Ireland. Whilst it’s not the key narrative of the novel, debate about the future relationships between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland is a hot topic (and likely to remain so). Unionist identities are part of that diversity. Ezra personifies a little of the tension and complexity of that within the current political context. It intrigues me that Belfast born C.S.Lewis, author of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2025), was left out of the Dictionary of Irish Literature (1996). Alannah’s mixed-race character also poses the question of how we define Irish, Northern Irish or British today. How inclusive are we?

Above all else, I hope you enjoy the story. That it makes you laugh, cry and smile. And that it makes you think.

— Sue