About
I have been writing stories ever since I can remember. I love how words make you feel; how they connect people to one another, how they inspire. My career to date has involved words in one fashion or another - from a broadcast journalist and radio newsreader, to a marketing manager, copywriter, and a media manager.
As the years have gone by, I've realised you don't have to knock out a literary masterpiece at your first attempt, and your words don't have to be perfect in every sentence. You have to love the process and the craft to create the magic. I've written a few novels and children's books (unpublished) and I'm currently writing a novel based on an idea I had many years ago. I also love collecting ideas for future novels.
In 2024, I signed up to do my first creative writing course. It was really nerve-wracking putting your ideas out there to strangers but everyone was so supportive! In 2025, I kept writing, kept showing up and kept dreaming of getting published. I also ditched a novel I'd been wrestling with and found hard to write, switched to contemporary women's fiction and in 2026 my plan is to finish it and get an agent for it!
I'm Reading...
THE SECRET HISTORY
Donna Tartt
My January 2026 Pick
I read this absolute classic in my 20s and lost my copy in between moving houses so when I saw it in my local Waterstones I snapped up another copy. Re-reading it when you're in your 50s, you appreciate it differently. The sentence structure, the words flowing into one another, the intrigue, the dilemmas. I almost don't want to get to the end because I'll be without it once again. Read it if you haven't yet, re-read it if you have.
WHAT'S NEXT ON MY LIST?
I've got some stunners waiting on my TBR pile that I can't wait to get to. They include The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid and the classic that I still haven't read yet but really should have - Atonement by Ian McEwan. Admittedly, my TBR pile is absolutely massive but I don't care and it makes me happy. Transporting yourself into another world blows away all the cobwebs and takes us out from underneath our busy lives so my TBR list will always be endless!
What's your reading style like? Do you devour all the latest new releases the minute they hit the shelves? Do you re-read your favourites and keep to authors you know and love? Do you try out books on recommendations alone? Do you start books but never finish them? Or do you read according to the season?
There's something to be said when we're hunkering down and hibernating here in the UK in the middle of winter to lose yourself in the depths of an adventure in snowy and freezing cold Alaska, or catching up on a sun-drenched teaser while you're tanning yourself by the pool on your summer holiday. It's a bit like watching Christmas movies at Christmas isn't it and delving into the Dickens novel A Christmas Carol when you've overloaded on too much turkey and Quality Streets.
I love to take as many books as I can cram into my suitcase when I'm off on my summer holiday (there can never be too many!) and yes there are some easy beach reads but also some heavy hitters. The classic Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie comes to mind but also books that reflect the areas you're travelling to and relaxing at.
So, how about January then? That most depressing of months when New Year's Resolutions are made and broken, when we all feel the weight (literally) of the festivities the month before, and when we vow to renew ourselves so that come Spring we're lighter in both body and mind. That seems to be a pretty tall order but if we were to go along with that train of thought, what books would be perfect for these dark and dank January days and nights to curl up with under a cosy blanket?
My vote goes to Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Its setting in the bleak and stormy Yorkshire moors perfectly matches the passionate and destructive love story.