“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.”-Neil Gaiman-
I am a UK author and come from the lovely historic market town of Bury St Edmunds in the East of England, where I live in an old Victorian townhouse with my teenage daughter, a little black cat called Skittles, and a baby tortoise called Napoleon – Poe for short.
I have been reading for longer than I can remember and writing since I was old enough to pick up a pencil. I often wrote plays for my dolls to act out, eventually progressing onto writing school plays and remember the thrill of seeing my words acted out. I also wrote short stories, and silly poems to send to family and friends on their birthday.
I didn’t take myself seriously enough to consider trying to get published until I was in my thirties, and my first book to make it into print was The Book of Eve – holding the paperback of my novel was a defining moment in my life – and even though I have gone on to publish sixteen books in total, it’s a feeling that never grows old.
I am an introvert that likes people – if that makes sense – and am a complete homebody. I enjoy cooking, and love being able to feed family and friends with a delicious meal that I have prepared myself.
People ask where I get the ideas for my books from, and I must confess most of the time I honestly don’t know. Usually, I begin with a title that intrigues me, and maybe a character or two. Being what’s called a “pantser” – meaning I write by the seat of my pants – I never plan or plot my books, instead I work for ages perfecting the first line. When I’m happy with that I write the next line, and then the next, and the next, until the book is written. It can be a hair-raising way to write, but it’s fun and always a source of great surprise as my characters merrily go their own way and completely ignores any plan that I might have for them. After all, I’m only the author, right.
