Today I want to touch upon the most controversial aspect of my Skye City series: Children taking drugs. At least one reviewer was furious about this and somehow thought writing about an issue equals endorsement. The sad reality is children around the world are abusing drugs. If you look at the slums of Rio (which strongly influenced my story), children are hooked on drugs at the age of 8 or 9. This is normal. They don't have reservations and they don't clean up their acts because they have no understanding of the consequences. Being high is an inextricable part of their existence. And this lifestyle is not reserved to the poverty stricken slums of the world either. When I was growing up in NE England, there were kids taking drugs from 10 or 11 years of age, and while the problem may not have been as prevalent as in the Rio slums, it certainly was widespread. I have in my life witnessed the many sides of drugs from the exhilarating to the tragic, having lost a friend through drug use. People who take drugs are not necessarily bad or stupid, and I wanted to challenge the idea held by some that only the untainted can be heroic. In the fictional Medio city, poverty is extreme, life is brutal, medical treatment and drug advice are non-existent, and people, even children, do whatever it takes to get through the day, to make their pitiful lives bearable. The characters are tainted, often foolish, and yet they are remarkable. They face the worst and somehow they survive, albeit in the most haphazard way possible. They are survivors and in spite of every obstacle thrown at them, they somehow figure out a way to change the world. Just don't expect things to work out perfectly for them. My series tackles many serious issues, aside from drugs, and if you do not wish to burst your middle-class bubble, it will not be for you. If you do read, expect to be challenged, expect to be provoked, expect to feel uncomfortable at times. Through the surreal fictional world I have created, you can experience the real world!