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Five on Friday with Jill's Book Cafe Blog

I loved these unusual questions I was asked by Jill Doyle of Jill's Book Cafe Blog, such as what are my top 5 pieces of music, 5 things I can't live without and 5 pieces of advice I'd give to my younger self. It was really fun and thought-provoking…

Interview with Backlash Press

Recently, my third novel The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale was selected by an independent publisher Backlash Press as one of their 'curated indie' titles. Backlash describes itself as a small, independent press publishing house dedicated…
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The Public Library Love Letter

I have had my poem about my long relationship with public libraries published with online literary magazine, Idle Ink. Click here to read this very personal poem. Me around the age I started falling in love with books.
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How to stay connected in a time of disconnection

Here in the UK, we are in our third lockdown in the past year. Physically, we are more removed from one another than we have been as a species since the Spanish Flu over one hundred years ago. I find myself thinking of another time of great…
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Second Prize in Trip Fiction Sense of Place Competition

I was delighted to discover last week that I had come second in a writing competition which 400 people from 35 countries entered. The remit was to write a piece of fiction or non-fiction under 3000 words that had a strong sense of place. I…
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'Turning': Publication of my Poetry ebook

Each and every person have strategies to help them cope with challenging times. For me, you won't be surprised to hear that it's always been writing, for as long as I can remember: journalling, short stories, poems, haiku, fragments of words,…

Finding my way in the #BlackLivesMatter movement

The below is taken from my June 2020 newsletter. I send out a newsletter once a month to subscribers in which I talk about what I'm up to with my writing and discuss topics I feel are important. If you'd like to be included in my newsletter,…
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Sanctuary

Self-isolate! It seems to be all the radio and news reports scream out at us right now. And alright, I’ll do that. I’ll stay at home to give the stretched hospital staff the best chance possible to contain this. To survive. But I will…
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A Letter to my Future Grandchildren

Dear Ones, You will ask me stories about what it was like during the time of the virus, just as I asked my own grandparents about the war. I will tell you how at first I didn’t take it too seriously; none of us did. We listened, baffled,…
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Ripples of Kindness, Starting at the Library

The other day, a friend asked me if I'd had my 'moment' yet; that is, of truly feeling the weight and enormity of what we collectively are living through with the global pandemic. I think there have been plenty of 'moments' for me of ever-shifting…