FORMER RAF SERVICEWOMAN PUBLISHES FIRST BOOK
A MOTHER and former RAF servicewoman from Bishop Auckland has published her first children’s
book.
‘A Storm Like No Other’ by Kirsty Lewton, is a beautifully illustrated story that finds entities called
‘smogs’ becoming jealous and creating a children’s story like no other when they cause chaos for the
humans below. Can the heroes of the skies work together to bring calmness on earth?
Kirsty, who is married to a RAF serviceman joined up at 19 and after initial training was based at
RAF Leeming, which is where she met husband, Chris, who is a Gunner in the RAF Regiment. She
served her country for eight years and chose to terminate her service after the birth of the couple’s
son, Ethan, who is now nine years old.
Kirsty said, “I wanted to create some stability for our family so gave up my career to care for Ethan
at home.”
During her time in the RAF, she served overseas in Al Udeid, Qatar, and Bastion, Afghanistan; here
she served alongside her husband and his regiment squadron having been their clerk for three
years.
“The Afghanistan tour led to me receiving my operational campaign medal. And after being co-
located at an air base in London for a period of time, in 2017, we chose to settle in the North-East to
allow our son a stable up bringing.”
“A rewarding career in the military gave me plenty of experiences but when I left the forces, I
lacked qualifications and wanted to improve my profile and so I embarked upon a five-year
educational journey.”
Kirsty studied for a Business Management Degree and a HR Management Master’s Degree at
Teesside University in a bid to find a new career path. She followed up with a Durham SCITT course
and trained to be a teacher. After successfully completing that, she secured a position in Further
Education as Senior Business Development Adviser at South West Durham Training, an Engineering
and Plumbing Training Centre.
Now she has published her first book and explains how that came about:
“As a child I was always writing short stories but never thought I would actually become a
published author. When my son was little, we were on a car journey and we were making shapes out
of clouds which is what inspired this children’s book. I started writing my book in 2021 but suffered
writers’ block half way through so it was left unfinished for a while.
“As part of a work project where I was involved with creating a children’s book around
Engineering, I met author, Victoria Downes, and Illustrator Lorraine Hall. This project inspired me to
finish writing my own children’s book.
“My educational journey meant that my story took a completely different direction and enabled
me to add educational elements that would be more beneficial to young learners.
“Having new connections opened the door of opportunity for me and allowed me to publish my
book through Alexa Whitten at The Book Refinery. Lorraine Hall illustrated it for me too.”
The book was published in December last year and is now available on Amazon and is on display in
several book stores across the North East including Waterstones (Darlington, Durham and
Northallerton).
Kirsty, who left school without many qualifications, toured the world in service for her country,
worked hard at her own education to make a success of her life, all the while being an attentive
parent to her young son, is to be congratulated.
Last weekend, she appeared at an Armed Forces event held annually at Bishop Auckland College
where she had her book for sale. ‘A Storm Like No Other’; a children’s book like no other and comes
highly recommended.
Copies can also be obtained by contacting Kirsty personally via email at
