Professional Bio
I've spent my life loving books and my whole professional life helping people understand the power of words, from high school students learning why classic texts have stood the test of time, to writers learning to wield word-power for themselves.
I taught English Literature for many years but when I became a published author I was increasingly invited to talk about creative writing. I have taught on writing courses and summer schools run by Oxford University since 2002 and gave talks and ran workshops at the Writers' Festival in Winchester every year between 2000 and 2018. I loved giving presentations, running workshops, sharing experience and advice with writers so much that I founded Fictionfire Literary Consultancy in 2009.
Fictionfire has been a great adventure: I've designed workshops, run day courses at Trinity College, Oxford and writing retreats in Oxford and Cornwall. I've mentored writers through their writing projects, edited their manuscripts, pointed them in the right direction when they want to take their work to market. I’ve also created online courses (see my Courses page) and I hope to create more in the future.
Now that I’m celebrating fifteen years of running Fictionfire, watch this space for more creative adventures as I bring my knowledge, practical help and that undying love of story to more people ...
My life as a speaker
Past talks and lectures include for Oxford University, WriteCon in Zurich, the University of Winchester's Writers' Festival, Aarhus University in Denmark, the Alliance of Independent Authors, plus the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Professional Series in London, the Calderdale Writers' Roadshow in Halifax, I Am in Print, Oxford's C.S. Lewis Society, Oxford Writers' House, Writers in Oxford and the Oxford Literary Festival.
If you'd like me to give a talk or run a workshop for you, please visit my SPEAKER PAGE for full details.
writing societies and story judging
I'm a member of The Society of Authors, The Alliance of Independent Authors, Writers in Oxford and The Historical Novel Society – and have served on the committees of the last two.
Over the years I've judged a number of story competitions for Winchester Writers' Festival, the Ian St James Award, Oxford's Short Stories Aloud competition, the Historical Novel Society's Conference Oxford 2016 competition, Writers in Oxford's Young Oxfordshire Writers Competition and the King Prize, for Marlborough School, Woodstock.
Featured Writing
I've been interviewed and guested on writing blogs, including The Alliance of Independent Authors’ podcast, Alison Morton's blog and 'The Dreaded Saggy Plot – and How to Avoid It' as part of the Triskele Books Creative Pulse series. My chapter on Pre-writing appears in Studying Creative Writing, edited by Sharon Norris and published by Frontinus in their Creative Writing Studies series. Scroll down to My Writing Life for details of other published writing.
the historical novel society
I won the HNS short story award at the London conference in 2014. In 2016 I was one of the judges for the Oxford conference competition. When my winning story 'Salt' was published in Distant Echoes by Corazon Books I was invited to write an article on historical fiction for the Society. Click on the button to read it. ‘Salt’ is now available in my collection An Oxford Vengeance.
The Alliance of Independent authors
I've been a member of ALLi since its inception in 2012 and have contributed to its self-publishing advice blog more than once. Click the button to read my article on the benefits of writers' retreats. Click here for my recent interview on ALLi’s podcast.
The creative penn
I guested on Joanna Penn's amazing blog about the differences between traditional and self-publishing; with my novel The Chase I had had experience of the advantages and disadvantages of both.
My Writing life
My passion for helping writers is born out my own passion for writing and all the lessons I've learned about the craft of writing since I wrote my first poem at the age of six and told my teacher I wanted to be an author!
I now have a separate author website here.
You can follow my writing news and activities by signing up here.
My new book, One Morning in Provence, will be published in November 2024. I’m currently writing The Unputdownable Writer’s Mindset: subscribe here for advance news, sneak peeks and more! I have various other writing projects in the works …
Competition successes:
May 2024: Shortlisted in the 17th-19th century category in the Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters competition
shortlisted for the Mogford Prize 2022 and 2021
longlisted for the Mogford Prize 2020 (25 writers longlisted out of 1280 entries)
shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize
longlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize
Ian St James Award winner (story 'Exposed' published in At the Stroke of Twelve and reprinted in Snapshots)
finalist in the Historical Novel Society's story competition 2012 with 'Reputation', published in ebook anthology The Beggar at the Gate
reached shortlist of four in Pan Macmillan's Write Now Prize for children's novels with Hinterland (unpublished)
winner of the Historical Novel Society's London 2014 short story competition with 'Salt', which appeared in the anthology Distant Echoes and now in An Oxford Vengeance
the chase
A house in France, a marriage in pieces and a past that refuses to be left behind.
Nestling in the dense forest of the Dordogne, a region cloaked in dark history, stands an old house with secrets of its own.
In 1989, Gerald Feldwick buys Le Sanglier, seeking sanctuary. He promises his wife Netty a fresh start in France, far from memories of the harrowing event that fractured their marriage. He assures her they can leave the anguish of the past behind.
But Netty harbours doubts.
And soon she discovers her instincts are is right.
'A remarkable achievement'. Times Literary Supplement
'Steeped in the atmosphere, history and excitement of France.' Living France
‘A haunting book … set in the beautiful Dordogne, where past and present fuse in a page-turning mystery.’ Alison Weir, novelist and historian
'Superbly written ... a real page-turner.' Linda Gillard
(The Chase was previously published in hardback and paperback by Bloomsbury Publishing before rights reverted and it was republished in new ebook and paperback editions.)
'Salt' features in An oxford vengeance
My short story 'Salt', set during the First World War, won the Historical Novel Society's London 2014 Award and appeared in Distant Echoes, the anthology of winners and runners-up of HNS competitions, published by Corazon Books. It now appears with other stories in An Oxford Vengeance: the ebook is now available, with paperback to come.
Great Yarmouth, 1914: Ina works as a Scottish 'herring girl' as soldiers prepare to leave for the trenches of France. Her fragile sister Mary Bella falls in love just as the world falls into chaos – what can Ina do to help her?
Oxford, 1390: in the aftermath of the events of Chaucer's 'Miller's Tale', one man hungers for justice ...
Etretat, Normandy, 1880: longing to escape her oppressive marriage, a woman has a cliff-top meeting which will change her life forever ... (Finalist in the HNS 2012 Award, with new sequel story added)
Aquitaine, France, 1442: ambushed, wounded and lost amidst the horrors of the Hundred Years' War, an English knight seeks salvation ... (extract from The Chase)
'Clever, touching and in exquisite prose' Clare Flynn
'Strikingly original, graphic and heartrending' Debbie Young
cooling
My poem 'Cooling' appears in the Vine Leaves Literary Journal, a beautiful collection of poems, vignettes, photographs and illustrations from Vine Leaves Press. This 220 page hardback is a gorgeous coffee table book to treasure, celebrating the art of the vignette and encouraging us all to take time to focus on the beauty of the moment.
Personal bio
I was brought up in a fishing village in northern Scotland and educated at Aberdeen University, where I graduated with a First Class Master of Arts degree in English Language and Literature, before moving to Oxford to continue my studies at Merton College. As I write this I realize how incredibly lucky I have been to live in such beautiful places – from the wild coast of Scotland, to the 'silver city' of Aberdeen, to the golden spires of Oxford.
I live in Oxford with my husband. My two sons are grown up and forging their own paths in life, one as a musician and teacher of music, the other as a marketing analyst and screenwriter. This household is all about words and music!
Have a question?
Fill out the form below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
