To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part… No doubt you recognise those timeless words. Perhaps you recited them at your wedding, or heard them recited at someone else’s wedding. But [...]
PARADISE REGAINED
For those of you who read my last blog post about the tragedy of my beloved piano, I have a happy update. 😊 Yes, paradise has indeed been regained! Thank you, Sir Milton, for lending me those pertinent words, even if they are almost four hundred years old. And talking of pertinent words from the [...]
LIVING WITHOUT YOU
Probably everyone who’s reading this post will have experienced some kind of loss by now, whether it be for a beloved pet, a close relative, a friend, a partner, or another type of loss entirely. Like everything in life, there are various gradations of sorrow. I was eighteen when my grandmother died. It was a [...]
How to Elevate-Pitch Your Life
Having just finished an inspiring course on “The Literary Agent” with Curtis Brown Creative (CBC), my heart is singing with elevator pitches! Have you heard of those things? You haven’t? Honestly? But … I mean, how can anyone live their whole life without an elevator pitch? I’m being serious here. Okay, more on the pesky [...]
Special Offer of INFINITE STRANGER
The lovely piece of artwork that I chose for this post is something I unexpectedly received from a reader of "Infinite Stranger". She messaged me to say that this is how she visualised the seaview bedroom of my protagonist, Leah Cavanagh, who lives with her single mother in Lyneham-on-Sea, on the western coast of Lancashire. [...]
A Life Imperfectly Lived – ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan
Bollocks to New Year’s Resolutions!
‘Nearly everything that happens to you in life you forget. Should have kept a journal.’ I came across those words while reading Ian McEwan’s latest novel, ‘Lessons’, and they lifted my mid-winter spirits astronomically. Why? Because keeping a journal is at least one New Year’s Resolution I don’t have to worry about, seeing as I’ve [...]