FOR her last book, Harrogate author Julia Clarke took her experience of living through foot and mouth and turned it into a gripping novel for teenagers.

Set on a Pennine farm in the wake of the foot and mouth outbreak, You Lose Some, You Win Some was the story of Cesca, a plucky but vulnerable teenager struggling to cope with the separation of her parents, caused in part by the strains of coping with the disease.

Cesca's voice as she struggled to make sense of the way her world was falling apart around her came through loud and clear.

"I was so dumb," she says, full of guilt and anger towards herself and her parents.

"I thought dad was a superman; he'd always sorted everything, so I assumed he would sort this." He wasn't and he couldn't: but, as it always does, life went on. Julia's new book Chasing Rainbows tells the story of Rosie, a teenager who decides her chaotic mum should marry the father of her friend next door. "I always try to find different themes for my books," says Julia.

"Chasing Rainbows is about matchmaking and dancing - which have been of interest to girls since the time of Jane Austen!

"It's a light-hearted book about a flawed but loveable heroine whose childish dreams clash with adult reality - which is what being a teenager is all about."

Updated: 09:17 Wednesday, August 04, 2004