Whilst writing, I tend to draw on aspects of my childhood and drip feed them into my stories. My latest book is no exception. I still love L.S. Lowry’s art. A man who could paint the ordinary occurring within every day life yet make the world stop and look at the extraordinary scene, complete with its match stalk cats and dogs!

A canvas print of this painting, ‘Going to the match’ sits at my right shoulder as I type. A scene I’ve studied over many years and I still spot something new on occasion. I’m posting it because come Thursday, if you venture inside my latest book, you might wish to check a specific detail, once you reach the end of the 'Christmas Wishes' story. I wanted to provide the proof, for it to be ready and waiting for when you sought it.

​Yesterday, I spent a fabulous day surrounded by all things literary: poetry readings, enthusiastic speakers and a very appreciate audience in Harbury, Warwickshire. I had been invited to speak at the festival many, many months ago and had gleefully agreed when the date was a distance dot in the future.
 
I can’t thank the organisers and audience enough, I was quite overwhelmed by the warm reaction with which I was greeted. If you’ve ever been present whilst I’ve given ‘my talk’, I am simply me, an ordinary woman. I tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing, but the truth. I don’t try to glam it up or embellish my publishing journey to make it look pretty – you hear the truth, as my journey to publication took a long time! 
 
I start by taking the audience back to 1994! I kid you not, a few small references and those that lived the era are back there! I then move forward to the present day. The ups, the downs and the funny bits in between! 
 
Afterwards, I deliver what I always wanted published authors to tell me, as an aspiring author, when I’d eagerly attended festivals but they rarely did. Today, I tell the audience how I write, what I do, what I use, how I lay things out, my toolkit, my hours, my likes and dislikes of the entire process. I tell them, I don’t hide it – it might help someone to complete a book – so I openly share. And that’s my joy! I try my hardest to ‘give back’ because if you’ve followed my journey or heard ‘my talk’ you know other generous souls gave to me!
 
If you haven’t heard ‘my talk’ or heard ‘my shares’ as an aspiring author then my next talk is Redditch library on Saturday, 30th September 2023 starting at 11am. See you there!

Finally, I've started to write my new book for the Lakeside Cottage series. I've had to overcome some stumbling blocks this month like the driveway incident known as 'I'll never do again', a cast of characters who didn't like their chosen names or was that me? Plus, a few days of copy editing which didn't go as I wanted but hey ho, I'm there now. This morning, I wrote a thousand words straight off in one sitting. My fingers were dancing across the keyboard just as fast as my brain could give instruction - well, almost.  

The names thing threw me, as I'd chosen the entire cast from my collated list but after days of mulling them over they didn't gel as a group. That probably sounds mighty weird if you aren't a creative bod, but others will get it. I'm a funny one regarding names. If they sound clunky, or prickly, or too mellow, or too pretentious it doesn't sit right with me. I've got to live with these people for the next five months or so. It's the first time that I've thrown the entire cast out though, usually I simply replace the ones that are irking me. This time, I started from scratch by going on walks to my local graveyard and reading the inscriptions on memorials and headstones, searching with fresh eyes. That gave me three of the six names, I needed. A TV series promo gave me another. The royal family another name. And a Facebook post named my final character - which is a surprising but beautifully unique choice, as I'd never heard of it being given as a name before! Don't say you're surprised by my choice of unique names - you know I love um! 

So, I've made a start with writing book 14 - which is excellent. Though I am still polishing book 13 which I desperately want to hand over by 30th September. Though I do have a good excuse for juggling both, given that tomorrow, 21st September, London Writers' Salon are launching their 100 days until the new year challenge. 'I can write draft 1 of book 14 in that time,' she says!

After months of close observations, it's become apparent that my writing assistant is suffering from partial deafness. It appears to be in his middle range, as he still responds to high-pitch or low sounding noise. My normal speaking tone falls into the void. To be fair, after nearly thirteen years together - I don't blame him for switching off to my jabbering!

He's been my constant companion, whilst I've written each of my published books. Though he sat beside me without passing judgement during my early attempts too. 

It's quite sad seeing him jump in surprise when he doesn't hear me approach or on waking, when I have to tap or stroke him to gain his attention. He's always been an attentive dog, but now his little button eyes rarely leave my face. I'm grateful that his puppy training had included hand gestures, as it's these which I'm now relying on. Though he's clearly learnt to cope by knowing my routines and associating specific objects as signals anticipating commands, actions and events throughout our day. I suspect he's probably been doing that for a while, before I realised the issue. Good job the opening of his 'treats' cupboard doesn't appear to be affected - now, that would be a disaster!

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I beg to differ; he's responding nicely to a range of new hand signals and whistles.  

I'm back at my desk today. Starting my September challenge a little later than planned, after the weekend's incident. I tried working yesterday morning but my brain wasn't ready to settle. But today's different, I'm back!

For Book 13, I've spent the morning writing a new chapter to fill a current gap. Which feels like a pain when you're writing within parameters of the plot but has given me space to drip feed a few additional details about all the characters. With the new project, I'll be spending the afternoon sifting through character names. I'm not loving the couple I'd already selected so I may well start from scratch with the cast. I'll admit to having certain criteria for naming bods in my books. There are certain letters of the alphabet that I dislike the phonic sound of - they get rejected immediately. I have the proverbial list of 'I know them in real life names' which I'll never use due to association or fear of offending. Then I have my long, long, long list of 'I love that name' names which I attempt to ration myself but usually end up selecting at least one. Or three! Yeah, I've squeezed three into book 12 - ha, I try and kid myself that I show restraint but I don't. I can't. I flex that artistic license when it comes to naming characters.

Update: After browsing my usual naming books and choosing a cast, I ended up wandering around my local graveyard. Don't act so shocked - you know that I do that. I love graveyards for various reasons: the names, the carved masonry/statues and the history. 

I've had to be honest about my health in recent months in order to reduce the number of requests and emails I receive in relation to library talks/author Q&As/festival visits. So, I celebrated my release after 12 weeks of recovery by visiting Birmingham - I had a wonderful day, albeit that walking amongst human beings felt very strange.  

Early the next morning, I went for a dog walk - knowing I'd had a successful outing the day before. I tell this story because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. I had no idea what was waiting for me around the corner. I found a young man collapsed on a driveway. I'll save you the details but it was clear he wasn't in a good way. I called 999 for an ambulance, and with the assurance of the wonderful lady at ambulance control, I ended up doing chest compressions on him. That was the very last thing I could ever have imagined doing on leaving the house. I'm grateful to hear that he's doing OK but he was lucky that I knew the basics. He was lucky that I'd behaved myself for 12 weeks and could physically complete the task. I feel incredibly lucky for the moral support I've received after the event - it was a totally crappy experience to have encountered. I'm not sure what the Universe was 'playing at' by sending me that surprise!

If you're reading this and have no idea what 'you' would have done on finding that young man ... then here's a link to get some free training. This morning, I redid the training just incase it ever happens to me again - though I hope it never does.
​Press here: British Heart Foundation link

If you subscribe to Amazon you can now gain access to my first three book titles via 'Kindle Unlimited' - enjoy!

A Christmas Wish - Flora Phillips has an excuse for every disaster in her life; she was abandoned as a new-born on a doorstep one foggy October morning in 1986. Her philosophy is simple: if your mother doesn't want you – who will? ​

The Single Girl's Calendar - A task a day to cure a broken heart. Esmé Peel is approaching thirty with some trepidation, but hope in her heart. If she can just get her long-term boyfriend Andrew to propose, she will have ticked everything off her 'things to do by the time you're 30' list. She didn't reckon on finding another woman's earring in her bed however, and soon she finds herself single, homeless and in need of a new plan. Her best friend Carys gives her the perfect present – The Single Girl’s Calendar – which has a different cure for heartbreak every day: 

​The Magic of Christmas Tree Farm - The scent of pine fills the crisp air as local villagers select their perfect tree. Picking the tree is the easy bit, creating a perfect Christmas is a bit trickier... Nina has the most magical job in the world, matching customers with their perfect Christmas tree. Holly is just trying to be a normal teenager, having to deal with the mean girls in her class. Angie is trying to bring her family together and save her broken marriage. It's not something she can force, but it's the only gift she craves.


Available here: Amazon