Award-winning “Queen of Teen” Juno Dawson was born James Dawson and raised in West Yorkshire. She worked as a teacher and journalist before becoming a full-time author. In 2015, she announced her intention to undergo gender transition and live as a woman. Her 14th book is the young adult novel Clean, the story of a teenage girl’s battle with heroin addiction and stint in rehab.
Drugs, sex and swearing feature highly in Clean, so what makes it a young adult novel?
The publishing world tends to focus more on the “young”, less on the “adult”. But I spend lots of time with teenagers and they’re truly the broadband generation. They’ve been online all their lives and seen things that would make milk curdle: beheadings, graphic violence, hardcore porn. Shielding them is never going to work. What makes this book YA is that it tackles issues in a non-judgmental way. We know these things exist, so let’s talk about them. I don’t think people will have a problem with how I’ve handled addiction. What might cause a fuss is [protagonist] Lexi’s positive attitude to sex. She clearly enjoys it. We never teach girls that sex should be enjoyable for them. That’s one thing porn absolutely doesn’t do. Pornography is not sex education.
Lexi’s heroin use is vividly portrayed. Do you have first-hand experience?
No. I was the most well-behaved adolescent, then went straight from university into being a primary schoolteacher. That’s not a job you could do half-cut. By the time I moved to Brighton a few years ago, I felt I’d missed my window to misbehave. So I did my research.
How did you research it?
I watched a Channel 4 documentary from donkey’s years ago called Cold Turkey, about a photojournalist who experimented with heroin as research and ended up a homeless junkie. I looked into the life and death of Peaches Geldof. That’s how it started for her, as a game. So I don’t think you can ever play with opiates. I spoke to people in recovery.
How did you research VIP rehab facilities like the one in the novel?
I’ve been in adolescent mental health units - not as a patient but through unfortunate circumstances. Three friends were institutionalised during my teens and I spent a lot of time visiting them. The clinic in the book isn’t NHS, it’s exclusive and private, so I visited two of those: one in central London, one in a remote part of the country.
Did you think twice about making your protagonist a spoilt socialite?
In teen fiction, we haven’t had a character like Lexi in a long time. I’ve been told in the past to make my characters likable. I found that a strange request because it was only ever said about females. I doubt anyone on Game of Thrones ever said, “Can we make Tyrion Lannister more cuddly?”, whereas there is pressure for girls to be palatable. Lexi certainly is not. When I was describing the early idea to a friend, she went “Oh my God, you’re writing Gossip Girl Interrupted”.
Lexi’s the daughter of a super-rich Russian in London. Was that accidentally timely?
Completely. I wrote Clean in summer 2016, so Russian stories in the news are weird timing. Lexi refers to her father being “the bridge between oligarchs and the mafia”. I spent five years living in Battersea, on the cusp of Chelsea, and was fascinated by the superclass of phenomenally rich Russians. And addiction in its many forms is always in the press, as we’re seeing with Ant McPartlin. He’s clearly very sick but is back in rehab, so good luck to him.
Another character, Kendall, is a 19-year-old transgender anorexic. Is she autobiographical?
People are bound to read her as a version of me. Which she is, but no more than the rest. I was desperate to write a trans character for whom it wasn’t really an issue. After you come out, after the initial makeover and being on hormones for a few years, what happens next? That’s a story nobody tells. Kendall’s gender isn’t an issue but her eating disorder is. As soon as I started living as a woman, I felt far more pressure to look a certain way. There are different ways to look good as a man but we still want women to be petite and tiny-waisted like a Disney princess. It’s deadly.
Is Lexi’s rehab love interest, “reality TV survivor” Brady, based on Jack Osbourne?
Well, there are similarities. Jack’s in recovery too but Brady’s an extreme version. He was a child star and that rarely ends well. Look at Macaulay Culkin, Lindsay Lohan or Amanda Bynes – all broken child stars. Even Ant McPartlin was a child star on Byker Grove.
The TV rights to Clean have already been snapped up. Tell us about that.
Blueprint Pictures, who were behind Three Billboards, bought the rights before we’d even sold the book. Now it’s just a case of getting it made, so fingers crossed. I’ve been picturing my dream cast, but I don’t want to jinx it, in case they read this and go “Hell no”.
You’re very prolific, with 14 books published in six years. What’s your secret?
Yes, although I started writing [debut YA novel] Hollow Pike in 2008, so it’s been a decade really. Thing is, I’m freelance. The more I write, the more I’m paid. I couldn’t survive on a novel every five years. To earn a living as a full-time author, you need a side-hustle. That’s where the nonfiction books came in. My daily routine is to take myself to a coffee shop and write for four fully concentrated hours. Any longer and I start writing garbage.
What do you make of Ricky Gervais’s transphobic jokes in his new Netflix special?
I’m not sure what I can add except “Really?” He doesn’t need the publicity. I don’t know what the trans community has done to piss off Ricky Gervais. As a nation, we’ve learned what’s OK to say and what’s not. The only reason for people to rail against political correctness is if they’re saying something they know is offensive.
Piers Morgan also seems oddly obsessed with trans issues. How was it appearing on Good Morning Britain?
A mutual friend said “Give Piers a chance” and backstage he was nice as pie. I guess it’s his job to let off hot air but what kind of person wants to earn a living that way? It’s professional trolling. I loathe this gladiatorial style of TV and radio. The Today programme is getting bad as well. It’s very Jeremy Kyle. Increasingly, I’m saying no to these debates. Let them wheel out their transphobes. I’ll stay home with my dog.
Yet you’re a big believer in the power of reality TV?
That’s why I did [gender reassignment reality series] Transformation Street on ITV recently. It was a chance to reach a primetime audience. Viewers who maybe hadn’t met a trans person in real life. I’ve had all sorts of people come up and talk to me about it, from Alan Carr to a school cleaner. Reality TV has the power to reach into hearts and minds.
What other projects are in the pipeline?
It looks like Clean will turn into a trilogy about addiction. I’m also about to announce some exciting Doctor Who news. It’s always been my dream to work within the Whoniverse, so watch this space.
• Clean by Juno Dawson is published on 5 April by Quercus (£7.99). To order a copy for £6.79 go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846
