Hello and the heartiest of welcomes to my website, blog type thing. I confess that I am like a basket of kittens stranded in a dinghy in the middle of the Atlantic when it comes to media of a social sort but I shall do my best to entertain and if I can wangle it, amuse you too.

So I think I should probably tell you a little about myself seeing as you have kindly dropped by. My writing career began in the mid-eighties when I penned the accurately named ‘My Holiday In Switzerland.’ It was fully illustrated but remains sadly unpublished.

At the age of eighteen I entered the Cosmopolitan Young Journalist’s competition fully expecting it to be the first step towards Pulitzer-winning glory. I can only imagine that the letter telling me I had won is still languishing in the corner of a Bristol sorting office. One thing I’ve learnt as a writer is that confidence is key.

My writing career endured something of a hiatus after leaving university as I chose rather selflessly to sell other people’s books firstly as a bookseller in a bookshop on Charing Cross Road, London and then during an eleven-year career in publishing. Following redundancy in 2009 I was thrown back into the world of stay-at-home motherhood. Realising that my brain was starting to fester like an old potato in the bottom of the vegetable tray, I enrolled on a creative writing course and started on my first novel. After a lot of writing, some wailing, more writing and a strict telling off by myself, I managed to produce Not Quite Perfect. It was at approximately 3.56pm on Friday 1 March 2013 when I got my publishing deal. The summer that followed was rather exciting because my little old book reached number 6 in the Kindle bestsellers. The year after it was published in paperback leading to many fun and educational family trips to Asda to view it on the shelves. I spoil my children.

My second novel, The Secrets Between Sisters was published as an eBook in 2014 and I was ridiculously proud when it was nominated in the Best eBook category at the Festival of Romance. I even wore a dress and brushed my hair for the ceremony.

My third book, Life Or Something Like It was published in July 2015 and reached number 12 in the official eBook sales ranking for November 2015. It made it into The Bookseller and everything.

The Choir On Hope Street was published in April 2017. I am as excited as my son after one Haribo too many about this book because it features a wonderful community choir who were inspired by my very own choir (Churchfields Community Choir, thank you for asking). It’s a book about music, community, kindness and cake – the ingredients for a happy life, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Speaking of happiness, my newest book is all about this most coveted of subjects. The Happiness List tells the story of three very different women all seeking their own version of happiness. It has been described as ‘Oprah Winfrey meets Victoria Wood,’ which makes me very happy indeed!

Thanks for dropping by, my friends – keep reading, reviewing and being as lovely as you are.