Posts

How to start a new novel
I finished writing The River Days of Rosie Crow a pretty long time ago now. Before that gem of a Christmas present knocked at my door of agent representation back in December, I was spending my time - A LOT of time - sending that novel off…

Write to Travel
In my previous blog, I penned a few thoughts around the curbing of my incessant travel habit. As I was writing it, I considered a poetry competition I entered last year with Trip Fiction (a brilliant online resource pairing books with travel).…

The Curious World of Waiting
There is a great deal documented about the process of writing a novel: crafting a plot and characterisation and the story arc or the editing process, for example. There has also been much written about the finished product of a book: working…

Creative Writing Workshops with a Danish Gymnasium
I recently had the opportunity to teach a series of creative writing workshops to students at Herning Gymnasium in Denmark. I feel so fortunate to have been encouraged creatively as a child at primary school (doubtless helping to shape me into…

Bridging the Summer Literacy Gap
Click here to read an article I have written about fun ways to keep literacy alive for your children over the long summer break.

Living, Coping & Writing with Chronic Insomnia
When I wrote my second novel, The Girl and the Sunbird, I would sit at a desk in my upstairs bedroom with sunbirds flitting to and fro from the foliage outside (yes, really, hence the title's inspiration), type away at my story, and cry. And…

Speaking to students in India
Well, I have left Nairobi and I am now in India for 6 months, travelling with my family! For more on our Indian travelling adventures, take a look at our website and blog, familygappers.com. We even have a vlog which you can subscribe to on…

Four 5* Books from the first half of 2017
As we reach the middle of 2017, I thought it would be fun to do a short review of my four favourite reads of the year so far. After all, I am first and foremost a reader, and my love of the written word has, over the years, helped carve my path…

Part 3 of my Self-Publishing Journey: The other side of the tunnel
In my previous blog charting part 2 of my self-publishing journey, I confessed that I had fallen out of love with my novel in quite a big way and that I was struggling significantly to move forwards with it.
Well...I am pleased to say that…

Ignite your Fiction Fire: 5 Tips for Aspiring Writers
Sometimes, trying to write and get our work out there can feel like flailing around in the dark. It can be a fraught journey, littered with the skeletons of defeated writers: I'm not good enough. I don't have time. I need to stop living in my…