When you dream big, you will find that the world conspires to help you achieve your dream. Trouble Started carries not just stories written by 20 youngsters, but their dreams as well.

This is the fourth year of the Junior Writers Programme, which seeks to provide youngsters with the tools and knowledge to write fiction. What a year it has been! Because the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging, we had no classroom lessons; everything was done online. As a result, it was harder to check the writers’ work when they did exercises in “class”. We did everything via email at a furious pace. Sometimes, I worried, not knowing if the writers understood the lessons, or if it was overwhelming for them. To their credit, they never complained that I was going too fast, and delivered all the exercises, extra work and final stories.

This year, I made the decision to self-publish. It was a very tough decision and one made with a heavy heart, considering my history and good relationship with MPH Group Publishing. Nevertheless, it was time to move on and embark on a new adventure. With the advice of other authors/editors and those in publishing, I was confident I could do it.

The tough part was breaking the news to the Junior Writers and their parents. I was not sure how they would take it. Thankfully, they were very supportive and even offered to help.

I will always be grateful to MPH Group Publishing for extending assistance when the programme was launched in 2018. They gave me the confidence to continue with the Junior Writers Programme and I learnt a lot from the MPH team.

This year, the theme for our book is conflict. The writers endeavoured to weave tales about disputes at home, in school, with neighbours and even internal conflict. Many of the stories are hopeful, offering familiar scenes and dialogues. They are stories of our past and present and slices of life in Malaysia.

I applaud the 20 junior writers for their talent and passion. Talent is a great thing to have. We can use it to entertain others and to raise funds as well. We have seen it quite often this year—singers and musicians performing online to raise funds for those affected by this pandemic. The junior writers will also give back to society. The royalties from the sale of this book go to Thrive Well’s (formerly SOLS Health) community centres.