My Story
Even the gods love jokes. Plato
People often say — whoever these people are — that everyone has a story inside them and I tend to agree. One's story is important: it holds the key to who you are, what you think and where you're going.
But only one story? Surely not.
I believe we have endless stories inside us, most autobiographical, some fictional — and a handful too indelicate to share.
Life-Lit, that's my genre.
Always laugh when you can, it is cheap medicine. Lord Byron
Who
I'm an avid observer of people and the world around me, and I love to overhear conversations. Those little snippets that can fuel ideas for my characters. I always say my work is like me — dialogue driven. I have the ability to talk for hours without seeming to draw breath.
Music has always been a big part of my life I write with my iPod or Spotify on shuffle; silence doesn't focus my mind. I find music helps me to lose myself in my creative mind.
Growing up, I had the freedom to discover myself. Yes, there were mistakes. Unacceptable behaviour, minor lawbreaking and playing truant led to years of rebellion, anarchy and hair dye. I was always an oxymoron. I am a devoted fan of traditional disco music(1970's) but also found myself embroiled in the punk scene (75-76), hence the hair dye, and to date I'm still a disco bunny with the edge of an ageing punk. Hence the mohawk haircut.
What
I searched for so long to label the genre that I write, mostly saying it was up-lit. But now I say I write Life-Lit.
After I gave up writing for the theatre, I became a freelancer and wrote for various magazines and trade journals. I moved to an international travel magazine as a features writer and I stayed with them for three years. However, I wanted to create fiction and had a vague idea of what I wanted to write. It must have humour and because of my theatre experience, be dialogue driven.
After experimenting with genres, most of which faltered, with some failing miserably. One day, a Twitter post caught my eye. A male author tweeted, 'Men cannot write from a female point of view'. Because I love to challenge perceptions, my writing from a female POV was born. I prefer to write from this viewpoint as women can be more interesting and complex characters to inhabit. Maybe my being surrounded by strong females throughout my upbringing is the reason this sits so well with my writing psyche.
Why
I told someone the premise of my book, 52 Weeks, and they asked me what was funny about cancer? My reply was, 'Cancer isn't funny, but if you look hard enough, you can find humour in every situation.'
Why do I write what I call humour rather than comedy? I think it's because when you say, you write comedy, the initial reaction is, 'okay make me laugh.' I love to find the humour in most situations be it light or dark. There are snatches of it in The Vodka and Cranberry Club and Widows United (expected publication 2026). My novella Willow and the Motorway Horses is a surreal and, quite frankly, bonkers story that is filled with appropriate and inappropriate humour – hence the age restriction.
Humour is subjective. What can make one person laugh out loud will only make another chuckle, but this said it helps to bring smiles, making any darker parts of my texts more intense.
When
When I was restoring my house in Italy, I had an idea to write a novel about a hotel restoration and (loosely) tie in the mystery of the Florentine diamond. Although I found it difficult to concentrate in the hot Italian summer, I eventually completed the novel, and it has proved to be a huge seller both in the UK and overseas, spawning more books in a series.
Finding the time to write is a problem for many authors, but I think having worked for a magazine and being used to deadlines has helped me to develop a routine when it comes to putting ideas down on (virtual) paper.
When writing, be it a novel or a monologue, I find it invaluable to have the support of my peers and belong to a writers' group where the feedback I get is honest and constructive rather than a fawning appreciation that some groups offer. It's better to be told something doesn't work rather than false praise that prevents development. Also, my editor keeps me in check regularly.