As I am coming to the end of this all-consuming writing journey that I have been on this year for my novel Black Heart, I thought I would write a letter to the teenage me.

I have had a very good response to the letter. An organisation called Thirty Pound Gentlemen that works with young people to develop their self esteem and leadership skills contacted me and said they had used it on one of their projects so here it is:

A LETTER TO MY YOUNGER SELF

You are powerful beyond measure.

That is a fact.

If you block out all the noise from those who do not believe in you or are too blind to see your vision, you will see and understand this.

You will not need a Science degree to help you measure what biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics cannot detect.

Do not deviate. Do not be distracted by shiny things.

Do not do drugs,  not from any moralistic standpoint but because they dull the senses and in this world, where so many things are already trying to bring your spirit down, you will need to be alert at all times.

Your energy is infectious. People will try and steal it for free.

There will be times when you will feel lonely. You will lose people who you thought you would be bound to forever.

You will feel joy.

Every feeling passes into another eventually, but no matter how you are feeling you must always remember that you are powerful beyond measure.

With great power comes responsibility.

Only you can be responsible for who you turn out to be and how that greatness is expressed to the world.