Thoughts about novels, genre, writing and reading…

A writer I know and admire at Boldwood Books, (thank you, Jessica…), recently wrote a brilliant…

 Overthinking: what can we do to spot it and stop it?

Last night I woke at one o’clock and I didn’t get back to sleep until five.…

The two feline bruisers, and why they are so loveable…

Several years ago, thanks to some wonderful friends who found a skinny stray cat who was…

How to deal with self doubt…

First, what is self-doubt? What is it about ourselves that we doubt, and why do we…

Being a vegan is sometimes the funniest thing.

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been a vegan because I’m not really sure. I…

Respecting romance novels….it’s at the heart of who we all are.

We live in a world where inclusivity is increasingly important, quite rightly, but in the world…

Holding out for a She-ro. Creating a strong female protagonist…

Recently, a lovely reader contacted me having read my blog post Holding out for a Hero.…

Glorious Scotland

I can’t wait to share this trip with you. A fortnight before The Lady of the…

It started with a notebook…

My mum used to buy me those old notebooks when I was a child. They were…

Holding out for a Hero….

Creating any protagonist for a novel, male or female, requires some thought and planning to come…

The Greatest Gift…

Christmas is a time for giving presents, and that’s a blog post in itself, as we…

New Year thoughts…

It’s always a temptation at the beginning of a new year to want to make fresh…

Christmas Greetings!

Thanks to everyone who has read my blog posts this year and has been part of…

Meeting a local reading group. Friendship, Community and The Classics

I was asked by a local reading group to discuss my novel The Witch’s Tree (Elena…

Thirty years of wedded bliss – but oh, how to celebrate it?

This week marks my thirtieth wedding anniversary. Thirty great years, two lovely children, so much fun,…

What I’m writing at the moment…

Hello lovely readers. As we head into December and the year comes to a close, I’m…

If food be the music of love, eat on….

A few weeks ago, I grumbled a bit because I’d been offered a not-very-nice meal in…

What is it about witches’ stories that tugs at our heartstrings?

I wrote The Witch’s Tree earlier this year, the story of Selena Cain in the present…

When should we complain, and when is it better to say nothing?

British people complain three times a day about small things, apparently. According to The Independent newspaper,…

Two heads are better than one, even if one of them is a sheep’s….

I love this saying – it’s so true. A builder friend of mine said it the…

Brittany Beaches and Beyond

I hadn’t been abroad since the two dreaded words happened, Co**d and Br***t. I’d written a…

Writers have different schedules, but they all create that best seller…

I was fascinated to talk to someone the other day who asked me what my writing…

Book Reviews: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

When I had my first book published five years ago, I wanted to read all the…

A Classic Car for a Classic Character

In my latest one of my eleven novels, The Highland Hens, octogenarians Mimi McKinlay and her…

The Highland Hens: A Story of Friendship and Love

When I started writing The Highland Hens, I was initially focused on the theme of loneliness.…