I was born and raised in Essex. Yes I supppose that makes me an Essex girl, but at the same time I am most definitely not an 'Essex Girl'.  I am an Accountant by profession and I do hope this conceptionally boring job does not translate into my writing!

 

My father is a retired precision Engineer and he raised me and my siblings on his own.  I am not sure I remember my father as a book worm but he did encourage me during my teens to read the classics including The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. He also encouraged me to explore works by Rudyard Kipling and William Blake (most memorably 'A Poison Tree').

 

I can remember writing stories and poetry, and enjoying it, from an even younger age.  However, as with perhaps most writers, I do struggle to finish a story.  Poetry perhaps comes easier to me, where the poetic lines sometimes flow so readily that I can write thirty or forty lines without stopping and without error.  Now, I'm not saying that the end result is necessarily any good! But I certainly do enjoy writing it.

 

My favourite authors, and those that influence my fiction would include Thomas Hardy, Daphne du Maurier, Stephen King, Barbara Erskine, Sally Beauman and Carlos Ruiz Zafron.

 

I am working on my first fiction novel and unfortunately I have several other ideas for various other works of fiction battling it out in my subconsious for supremacy.  This is not going to help me finish my novel which has already been two years in the making, but I will persevere.  I am writing the novel as one of mild horror with an element of the occult.  Once the first edit is complete I will publish some sample chapters on this site. So do keep checking back and do keep on at me to finish the first draft. I need all the encouragement I can get!

 

I recently had my first poem published by 'Writing Magazine'. It is called 'Illumination' and it secured second place in their 'List Poem' competition. It is only the second poem I have ever entered. You can find this poem in their November 2014 issue, but I will also publish it on this site once I am returned the copyright.  You can see other examples of my Poetry on this website.

 

Writing is a strange and wonderful, private and personal thing.  As a writer you can bare your most secret thoughts for all of the world to see and judge. It can be a daunting prospect. But to write without sharing seems a fruitless exercise.

 

And so here I am. I do hope that you enjoy.