Category: On Writing
Why I Decided To Write About Mental Health
I decided to write a memoir about my own experience of debilitating depression because I felt that I had something to say that might help someone. Although I was desperately ill, had suffered two major depressive episodes and been hospitalised, I did recover. I now consider myself well, and wanted to share what I had […]
Writing Through Grief
Two weeks ago, my wonderful mother died. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she passed away in my arms. One final slow exhalation and she was limp. Gone. Grief has bowled me over, set me totally off course. It was the week of publication for THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER and I was bouleversée, as the French say. Devastated. Nevertheless, I […]
Females on ships in the age of sail – from women dressed as men to lone travellers
My second novel, SONG OF THE SEA MAID, is set in the mid-C18th and my main character Dawnay Price needs to travel in order to do what she wants to do. She is a scientist – or as they’d say in those days, a natural philosopher – and she wants to study the flora and […]
An Inherited Obsession
My debut novel, Vintage, revolves around friendships between women of different generations. The shared interest that binds them is a love for vintage clothes. The idea for the book grew out of my own obsession for fashion, which I inherited in large part from my mother and grandmother. I grew up in a distinctly ordinary town […]
Living The Dream – A Tantalising Taste of Being a Full-Time Author
For a short time a few years ago, I lived the dream of being a full-time author. Not in the traditional sense – there were no agents or publishers nipping at my heels expecting me to meet a deadline. But, nevertheless, living the dream it was. I was made redundant from my job in Dubai […]
Are You a Writing-Conference Junkie?
As writers, we’re constantly (desperately?) looking for ways to improve our skills so we can write awe-inspiring sentences and create kick-ass plots with impossible-to-ignore characters. There are myriad ways to get to that end game—read a lot (a whole lot); pore over craft books, highlighting the best passages as you go; join critique groups and […]
Jane Eyre’s BFF
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I have been reflecting on love. Not on romantic love, but on the love between friends. I have been thinking about friendships new and old. After grappling with some serious health issues for almost half my life, I realize the importance of those who have stood by me when the chips […]
The Ballroom
The seed of The Ballroom was a tiny, almost crossed-out note in the corner of the 1911 census; ‘all are there,’ it read, ‘except the father, who is in Menston Asylum.’ The father in question was my great-great-grandfather, an Irishman who had settled in Bradford, married and had a child. Immediately intrigued and knowing nothing […]
Literary Love
In honor of Valentine’s day, we asked 5 authors about Love in Books! First literary love? Amy E. Reichert (Author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and Luck, Love & Lemon Pie): My first book boyfriend was probably Laurie in Little Women —the quintessential boy next door. Amy Impellizzeri (President of the Women’s Fiction Writers […]
The Invisible Days
I read somewhere recently that writing a book is like telling a joke and having to wait two years to find out if it is funny. It’s a painfully accurate analogy that made me laugh and wince with recognition at the same time. Writing, you see, is a curious profession. A single day can bring […]
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