Book Savvy Spotlight on Derek Smith

Bringing you exclusive interviews with authors featured in the Book Savvy Newsletter. Ou r Guest is Derek Smith, author of ' No Cousin of Mine ' -A book about true life post - war stories. The foreword to this book has been written by John Noakes, probably the most famous of all the presenters of the Blue Peter programme. Enjoy the interview. Q1: Can you tell us a little about your book, 'No Cousin of Mine'? The title 'No Cousin of Mine' is taken from a favourite drinking song of Number 256 RAF squadron that was serving in Western Germany shortly after the end of the Second World War. The book is a sequence of real life stories involving a young man and his comrades during their time of National Service. It is about being conscripted into a rigidly disciplined, sometimes harsh system and learning how to survive. It is about young lads, most only 18, entering this system and emerging after 2 years as men. It is about learning to make the system