When in my early forties, I began creative writing as a hobby and attended a weekly writing class. For about ten years, I wrote flash fiction, short stories and poetry. I often dismissed my efforts as ‘rubbish’, but I just enjoyed writing and sharing with a great group of like-minded, casual, writers.

Then, one day in my early fifties, I had a conversation that changed the course of my life.

I was travelling by rail from York to Southampton. When I changed trains at Birmingham, an elderly woman came and sat next to me. The seat she had pre-booked was further down the crowded carriage and she couldn’t face the scrum to try to reach it, she told me.

    “I’ve been out of the country for several years,” she said. “My husband died recently and I had to come back here, but I’d forgotten how chaotic it is. Quite the culture shock!”

My ears pricked as the writer in me immediately sensed a story. Over the following two hours, I heard about the life she and her late husband had been living in Malawi. I knew little about this African country but their time there sounded idyllic. When I got home, I was itching to get the story down and using some of the information she had divulged on our journey I did a bit of poking about on the internet. This research uncovered surprising truths about my travelling companion, casting a dark shadow over the perfect existence she had described. 

The seeds of a novel were sown and I realised that I wanted to take my writing more seriously. After completing a BA (Hons) and then an MA in Creative Writing, I visited Malawi to research the story further. I fell in love with this beautiful, but desperately poor, country and its people.  I am putting the finishing touches to my novel and hope to entice a publisher in 2024.

My love for writing has fuelled a passion for getting other people to write too! I hold a Level 3 Award in Training and Education and for the last three years I have run regular workshops and courses in creative writing. It’s great to inspire others to write and to watch them enjoying the benefits of flexing their creative muscles.

I would be delighted to see you at one of my workshops or on one of my longer courses.

I am also a resident tutor/mentor at retreats run by Writers' Retreat UK.

Come along and Just Write!