Introducing… Timothy Hughes
Meet Timothy Hughes, today’s MAWFYP author.
Timothy Hughes grew up in the Laura Ashley-tinted tones of rural Kent, discovering early that storytelling and making people laugh suited him far better than paisley patterns. A one-time finance worker seduced by tailored jackets and limitless, free stationery, he kept his creative pulse alive through disco daydreams and a degree in English Language and Literature with the Open University.
Timothy later gained MAs in Children’s Literature (Roehampton, 2020,) and Writing for Young People (Bath Spa, 2025,). He is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Kent and exploring how camp, memory, and belonging can help even the most anxious hearts find themselves in fiction. Once Upon a Time, Will Robinson is his debut.
What is your writing routine?
It’s generally character-led chaos until I’ve wrestled them into submission. I make a lot of notes, which I know will eventually inform the work when I finally sit down “to write.” I always wanted to be one of those glamorous authorly types you imagine perched on ancient steps with an expensive Italian coffee and a battered notebook full of secrets… but in truth, I’m usually at my desk, wondering what's being delivered next door and being harassed by my cat.
I do set myself a daily wordcount target, and I won’t leave until I’ve hit it. The Pomodoro technique has become invaluable for momentum: forty minutes of focus, followed by twenty minutes of gleeful abandon.
Who is your favourite author and how have they inspired you?
I learned the concept of a “logical family”, the one we build alongside the one we’re born into, from Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, and it’s something I hope readers will see reflected in my own work. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am that L. Frank Baum found The Land of Oz for us all, even if recollections of it may vary.
What was the inspiration for your manuscript?
The collected works of the Brothers Grimm, Dynasty, and Shirley Conran’s Lace. I genuinely set out to write a big, glamorous, epoch-spanning family saga, but if you give your characters any agency at all, they will derail every plan you’ve made and make the pandemonium look intentional. Perhaps that’s why my book is essentially a pantomime — just with fewer song-and-dance numbers.
Who is your favourite character in your book?
It’s like being asked to choose a favourite child! But since I don’t have children, the answer is Will’s maternal grandmother, affectionately known as Glamma. She’s become my hero since I brought her back from the dead “off page”. Don’t tell her. She’d probably be more offended it was “off page”.
What inspires you first: character or plot?
It’s always the characters. I might think I know how the story’s going, but they know how they want it told.
Describe your perfect day.
An early strike of inspiration and enough time to take proper notes; A meandering walk through Bloomsbury to the British Library; Non-stop 80s bangers on Spotify; Afternoon Tea with friends, family, or just my memories; Good lighting; A reverse camera angle that has finally bucked its ideas up; The first hint of woodsmoke when I get home on a crisp, clear night; The sense that tomorrow’s waiting patiently; And then there is snow.