A best-selling author who only learnt to read and write at 39 while working as a cleaner has now written 27 novels. <br /><br />Karen Woods, 53, wrote her first book at 39 after taking an Adult Literacy course – and has now written best-selling books and sold-out theatre shows. <br /><br />Hailed as Manchester’s Queen of Crime, the author credits reading and writing with changing her life and says she wants to represent people with bad starts in life.<br /><br />Now, Karen has signed book deals with publisher HarperNorth, and has appeared on TV shows including Loose Women and The One Show. <br /><br />Karen said: “I was bought up on a council estate and my mum and dad split up when I was 13.<br /><br />"All of those excuses don’t matter, if you get a bit of confidence and self-belief anything is possible. <br /><br />“I feel I represent all those people who had bad starts in life. I want to be the inspiration for women who think that because they’ve got kids, they can’t do what they want. <br /><br />“Nothing is set in stone if you believe in yourself. I'm on my 27th novel now and my dream hasn’t stopped there. <br /><br />“I write real books and real problems and I’ve been called Manchester’s Queen of Crime. I've always wanted to wear a crown.” <br /><br />Karen left school at 15 when she was pregnant and tragically gave birth to a stillborn baby at seven months. <br /><br />When she left education, she hadn’t learnt to read or write as she had trouble concentrating and would regularly skip school with other students. <br /><br />She worked as a cleaner and at 39 was offered a promotion – but was told she would need to write emails as part of the job. <br /><br />She attended an Adult Literacy Course and after two attempts, passed the test required to graduate from the program. <br /><br />“When I used to work as a cleaner and got the promotion, I lost loads of sleep thinking they would find out I couldn’t read or write,” said Karen. <br /><br />“I thought I could blag my way around it, but they sent me on an Adult Literacy Course and as the lessons went on I started to take an interest. <br /><br />“Once I got the certificate in my hand I realised anything was possible – I could read and write and was the same as everyone else.” <br /><br />While on a wellbeing course, she revealed that her dream was to write a novel – and just three months later, she finished hand-writing her first book Broken Youth. <br /><br />Against all odds, Karen’s book was picked up by Manchester based Empire Publications, and since then she’s written 20 books for the publishers. <br /><br />Now, Karen has had book deals with publishers HarperNorth, who have published her last seven books, and has written sell-out shows at the Lowry Theatre and Middleton Arena.
