Author, Educator
& Creative Practitioner
Introducing
Jess Birch is a writer of young adult and new adult fiction with speculative twists, blending real-world insight with imagination to challenge assumptions and spark connection. Based in Lincoln (via Grantham), she juggles life as an author, educator, creative practitioner, project manager, and mum to three energetic kids, which might just be the ultimate creative challenge.
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Her work explores the intersections of lived experience, cultural change and storytelling, and she’s passionate about using fiction to help people share their voices and imagine new possibilities. Jess is represented by Lauren Gardner at Bell Lomax Moreton.
My journey
Like many writers, I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember—short stories as a child, plays as a teenager, and novels as an adult. During my English Literature degree at Newcastle University, I wrote and directed a play and completed two creative writing portfolios.
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In my early twenties, I turned to children's literature. But when I began teacher training in 2012, life took over - teaching, a home, a wedding, and pregnancy filled my days, and writing fell away.
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In May 2019, everything changed. Watching ITV’s Plant Child documentary, I learned how girls begin to doubt their intelligence by age six. My daughter was two. I didn’t want her to grow up seeing me simply working to pay the mortgage.
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That same year, judging the YA category of the UKLA Book Awards exposed me to bold, modern writing and the playfulness of verse novels. I was also pregnant again, knowing a second maternity leave would offer rare space to write, even if it had to be by hand.
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In July 2019, just days after preparing my writing notebook, I went into labour. Six weeks later, with a newborn and a toddler, I gave myself one day to cry and eat chocolate—and then I started writing again.
Lady Em
Lady Em was a verse novel reimagining Macbeth from a teenage Lady Macbeth’s perspective, exploring Emilia’s fight against toxic masculinity at her school, where her twin brother, Duncan, reigned supreme.
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I wrote the first draft, entirely in Shakespearean sonnets, curled up with my newborn son through the winter of 2019–20. By February, the draft was complete, though sleep deprivation made it feel like reading a stranger’s work.
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When lockdown began in March 2020, I stayed home longer than planned, redrafting the novel and discovering the Writer Mentor programme. I entered, choosing YA verse novelist Louisa Reid as my dream mentor - and to my amazement, she chose Lady Em. Under Louisa’s guidance, I rewrote the book in free verse over an intense summer of revision.
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Following the mentorship, I signed with Lauren Gardner at Bell Lomax Moreton in October 2020. Lady Em went on submission on Valentine’s Day 2021, but with bookshops still closed during lockdown, she proved too much of a risk for publishers.
Although Lady Em never reached shelves, she will always matter to me. We grew up together.
My Stepsister The Alien
That summer, our world stayed small—my son’s second birthday was spent isolating after a nursery close contact and a train exposure. Thankfully, the neighbours’ digger provided free entertainment!
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During those weeks, I wrote My Stepsister the Alien—a light-hearted middle grade novel about puberty seen through an alien’s eyes. We hoped it might offer a less risky debut option for publishers. The first draft poured out in two sun-filled weeks.
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In spring 2022, we went back on submission. But life shifted. On Good Friday, my guide daughter Evelyn died by suicide at 15. Ten days later, I found out I was pregnant with my third child.
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I didn’t tell my agency; I didn’t want protection from bad news. I still don’t know why My Stepsister the Alien wasn’t accepted—but, truthfully, I didn’t have the capacity to care.
I haven’t been back on submission since.
The Birth of Memory in a Bottle
At 33 weeks pregnant, while staying with friends in Yorkshire, I suffered a placental abruption. Thanks to the team at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital, my son was born safely.
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Returning to teaching in September 2023 was harder. After Evelyn’s death and Mack’s birth, I wasn’t the same, and I could no longer meet the demands of the classroom. I resigned in October 2023, with no clear plan.
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I kept thinking of a book idea I’d been carrying since 2021. It needed more historical research than I was used to, but I wanted to preserve real voices, faces, and memories. Photographer Katy-Jane Stark - an old friend from SureStart days - was the obvious collaborator.
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My first Arts Council application in January 2024 was rejected without feedback. My second was rejected too, but this time with advice: I needed match funding and a wider creative team. Thanks to Create North East Lincolnshire, I secured both.
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When my third application was turned down in October 2024, I nearly gave up. But a week later, Arts Council England offered to support a resubmission. It had to succeed—after March 2025, I would lose my match funding as an individual.
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Eight weeks later, on Friday 10th January 2025 at 12pm, Memory in a Bottle was given the green light.
My Current Book
I know better than to reveal too much about a book still in research and development. But if you listen to the podcast episodes with the historians and read between the lines, you might spot a few clues.
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It’s a contemporary new adult novel with a speculative twist. Editors interested in hearing more can contact Lauren Gardner - she’s keeping a list.