I grew up Chinese - long before it was fashionable - in London but near Croydon, where my family ran a Malaysian-Chinese restaurant (one of the first in the UK). It was a childhood filled with Satay, Malaccan Winglets and Sizzling Beef. I was a very lucky child despite regular indigestion.

I cannot tell you when I first dismissed writing as a career path for someone like me, but as a child of immigrants, there was an unspoken expectation that I would do my best to be a professional (preferably a banker, lawyer or doctor) or, failing that, an entrepreneur.

I grew up on Terry Pratchett, Dick King Smith, Roald Dahl and Lynne Reid Banks. I lived in the worlds they created and they helped shape how I understood the real world. I wanted to be Sam Vimes or Willy Wonka, or have a magic cupboard that brought toys to life.

In addition, I have always loved writing - but it wasn't until I was well into a career as a lawyer when I realised I wanted to be a writer.

I had always liked the weight a sentence can carry. The right sentence can live with you for years - maybe forever. Words that keep you warm inside and resilient outside. I knew I wanted to write heavy sentences.

Despite that realisation, I was still not convinced I could really make it as a writer. I was too shy to ask for advice, so instead I carried on writing short stories and gathered the courage to enter a few competitions, even managing to pass the first round in the NYC Midnight Short Story competition in 2019.

Much to the worry of my father, I left my job in 2018 and focussed full-time on writing. Since then I have won the 2019 Quarto Translations / Golden Egg Academy Diversity Award (and a spot on their coveted Story Foundations course) and was also chosen as a finalist for the 2021 David Higham Associates Open Week.

My writing has also featured for The Big Think - for whom I have completed a series of short stories available to KS1 and KS2 children nationally.

I am still searching for the right words for that heavy sentence. When I write it, I hope it will find you.