My first grey hair appeared in 1982, when I was 20 years old. It was my boyfriend Sean’s fault. I thought I loved him, he was tall, blonde, wore a scuffed-up leather jacket and had a motorbike. We worked for the same company in Birmingham and had made plans to leave and live in London... Continue Reading →
“I’ll always regret never having done anything with my life,” said Mum as we walked across the park. It was nearly 30 years ago but I’ll never forget our conversation. It had been lightly snowing and we were wrapped up, walking arm in arm, taking a stroll after Sunday lunch. “You don’t realise,” she said. ... Continue Reading →
I thought I'd try my hand at writing a personal essay and just as I'd written the first paragraph, I found this competition at Wow! Women on Writing just what I needed to focus the mind and prevent procrastination, which is my worst enemy, or if you look at it another way, my best friend. Putting... Continue Reading →
I received a lovely email this morning from Olive O'Brien from Creative Writing Ink to say that my poem had been shortlisted for their monthly competition. This is the first poetry competition I've entered so I was thrilled to receive the news. I wrote the poem after spending the afternoon with my father who was... Continue Reading →
Gloucestershire based theatre company, Pirate Theatre, has accepted my script, The Writing Competition, and will be performing my play, along with three others, at their debut 'Pint Sized Plays' event this autumn. The Writing Competition is a monologue that invites you into the life of Cynthia, a working class, Yorkshire woman in her mid 60’s. Throughout her... Continue Reading →
I was thrilled to be included in Fresh Leaves, an anthology of short stories by new writers in 2018. The anthology includes stories of love, life and loss in a variety of voices. My story won an award, for being in the top 3 chosen by the editor, which was a real surprise but very... Continue Reading →
My short story, Mother's Gone, was published in Shadows New Writing VI in 2017. The story is about a daughter coming to terms with her Mother’s Dementia. The young woman returns home to find life at home has moved on without her and her arrival threatens the equilibrium the family has created. Here's the story:... Continue Reading →
Feeling chuffed to bits that I'm the 2018 Cheltenham Poetry Festival Slam Story winner. Some of the Uni of Gloucestershire students had been auditioned to take part in the 2018 Cheltenham Poetry Festival's Story Slam, alongside some local authors and well known performance poets. The idea is to write and read your own piece of ... Continue Reading →
When a little boy loses his favourite toy on Christmas Eve, Peggy and Archie come to the rescue. This is my third book in the 'Peggylicious' series of children's books which sees the beautiful Cocker Spaniel, Peggy and her best friend, a Tibetan Terrier called Archie find the lost teddy bear, giving Spencer a very... Continue Reading →
