Business alumni Mike Hollin publishes debut children's novel Smart Fiona

Business School alumni Mike Hollin says that his debut children’s novel, Smart Fiona, was inspired by a curiosity about the world and people from different backgrounds that was fostered during his studies at the University of Huddersfield.

Smart Fiona, aimed at eight to 12-year-olds, follows the adventures of Fiona after she is sucked into her smartphone and her race against time to get back to the real world before the phone’s battery runs out.

While the book’s message about the perils of too much time spent on phones is front and centre, Mike’s list of characters from multiple ethnicities and backgrounds harks back to his Business degree at Huddersfield between 2002 and 2006.

International mix proves inspirational

“My final year of my degree at Huddersfield was the best year of my life,” says Manchester-based Mike. “My life changed because my course became European business, and the university must have had links with other universities around Europe. There was a massive influx of foreign students from places like Poland, Czech Republic, France and Germany, and I somehow managed to befriend them all. I've always loved meeting people from other countries and travelling, so I was in my element.”

After working in Legal Aid, Mike took a career break and spurred on by the global worldview he’d found at university, he spent two years teaching at a primary school in South Korea.

“I think reading the books to the pupils instilled a little seed in my mind, because I've always wanted to be a writer,” Mike adds.

“But I never thought I'd write something for children. I always thought I was going to write adult thrillers or crime, or even something a bit more literary.

“I've deliberately made all my characters not white-British, Fiona's heritage is Chinese and her friends are from diverse backgrounds. 

“I'm aware that children need to be able to identify with characters in stories, and it's no good in this day and age just having a lot of white girls called Jane and Sally, to put it bluntly, because it doesn't represent Britain. I wanted a positive message to say we have a lovely, diverse country now with lots of different people in it that can call themselves British.”

Mike puts his lead character into jeopardy, with the reader made aware of how much battery life is left at the start of each chapter, and makes a subtle plea for better use of smartphones.

"It's like a dramatic irony, with the reader knowing how much battery is left but the main character is not told until the very end.

Hoping to get children back into books

"There's quite a big push out there at the moment about children not using screens too much, and I totally agree with that. So whilst it is an exciting adventure story, I have tried to weave a subtle moral into the ending about not using your phone too much and using it kindly.”

Initially available digitally, Smart Fiona earned a physical release in May 2024 through I2I Publishing with illustrations by BazmMac. Delighted to see his book in physical form, Mike is planning a sequel.

"What I'd like to do is try and maybe get a new generation of digitally distracted children back into reading again, get them away from their phones and the tablets. I think if I can make it into a series of fairly short, snappy thrillers that entertain children but don't overwhelm them."

Smart Fiona is now available to buy online at Amazon, Waterstones, WHSmith, Blackwells, Browns and Hive. For more information about Mike, visit his blog at: www.mikehollin.wordpress.com. He can also be found on Facebook (Mike Hollin) and Instagram (mikehollin_author_official).