Category: On Writing
A Home of Her Own – How Jane Austen Found the Space to Write
One of the most frequent questions I get as a writer is “Where do you find the time to write?” quickly followed by “Do you have a routine or are you able to write anywhere?” I can always tell when a harried writer is asking, someone who is struggling to fit writing into his or […]
Interview with Caroline Montague, Author of An Italian Affair
Caroline won her first National Poetry competition at 10 years old and from that moment dreamed of being a writer. After juggling motherhood with modelling assignments, she founded an Interior Design Company working on many projects in the UK and abroad. Her second marriage to the widowed Conroy Harrowby brought four stepchildren into her life, […]
The Story Behind Gill Thompson’s Debut Novel: The Oceans Between Us
I wasn’t expecting the phone conversation to be easy. The voice at the other end was ten thousand miles away. And it belonged to an eighty-six-year-old woman. I anticipated static… mumbling… confusion. But when the call came, the speaker could have been next door. And there was nothing confused about Joan Thorpe. She remembered the […]
Interview with Hello, Stranger Author Barbara Moran
Barbara Moran is a graphic artist from Topeka, Kansas, who was not diagnosed with autism until she was in her early forties. She has spoken at autism conferences, and her artwork has been exhibited by Visionaries + Voices in Cincinnati, Ohio; at Bryn Mawr’s annual Art Ability show; and at the MIND Institute at the […]
The Shaman’s Guide to Power Animals
Almost ten years ago, in the middle of a volcanic lake in El Salvador, I was struck by a mysterious light beam during a late-night walk. After three hours of being unconscious, I awoke to realize that all of my perceptions of the world had changed. I had left my ordinary reality and was now […]
Southeastern Ohio: Inspiration for the Luce Hansen Thriller Series
If you’ve never visited southeastern Ohio, you are missing out. Nestled along the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, it’s rolling hills and thick forest offer the perfect Americana backdrop, not to mention some of the most amazing sunrises and sunsets. I’ll admit that I’m partial to the area; my mother’s family has resided there and […]
Where Kilted Men Fell
1987 seems like aeons ago! Back then I was in my early twenties, having travelled from Australia to the UK to visit relatives and then drove north and explored Scotland. When I arrived at Inverness in the Scottish Highlands I enquired about historical points of interest. The words Culloden and battle were reverently spoken in […]
From No-Where to Now-Here: Intuition’s Role in a Writer’s Life
”Are there any ‘bounds to a writer’s job’ except those imposed by his own finiteness?” J.R.R. Tolkien I was in a checkout line one day when an inspired thought raced into my mind, solving a nagging issue with my pending book. My subject was intuitive development. My mission was to reposition what is typically thought […]
From Soaps To Saga
My debut novel BELLE OF THE BACK STREETS is out now in paperback, published by Headline. Two further novels will be published by Headline too – THE TUPPENNY CHILD is published in hardback, audio and ebook May 2019. And late in 2019, my third novel will be published, the title of which I can’t yet […]
Life By The Books
I’ve been wondering lately if one day I’ll look back on my creative work in terms of the life chapters during which the work was done. I wrote my first book, a memoir, in my twenties. Part of it I wrote as my master’s thesis, part of it I wrote while teaching. Although I was […]
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