When you find the right words, it's the best feeling

From as early as I can remember I’ve been writing stories. There was Pip and his alien friend Pop, Bingo Basher and the last ping-pong ball (also hopelessly in love with Mamie-Lou) and “Don’t Fire That Gun” – a story about a boy named Quentin who gets a gun for a present from his parents and then goes around shooting things (what was I thinking?!) Apparently it’s “A very enjoyable book, ideal for children who are just begginning too enjoy reading”. Notice the cute spelling mistakes. I was only eight at the time.

I love coming up with titles and then plotting a story to fit the title. Obviously my plotting wasn’t very good for Quentin’s story. As Miranda would say, let’s speak no more of… I had better success with my poems. Have a read of these gems:

The Fat Boy & Roy
There was once a very fat boy
who had a very big toy.
He had a best friend called Roy
and Roy was a very thin boy.
He was as thin as a pin
and as tall as a bin.
One day later he broke his chin
and hurt his shin.

Alice In Her Palace
There was once a girl called Alice
who lived in a magnificent palace.
There was a rat in that palace
who ran over the best mat
and really made Alice embarrassed.

Even today I enjoy rhyming things, but luckily for you I keep the crazy verses to myself and only publish the good stuff.

I have always read anything and everything I could get my hands on. As bizarre as I find this, I was really into Fantasy as a youngster (I'm more a realist these days). We could take out four pink ticket books at a time at the local library and my selection was always four “game books”. They were very big in the 80s. You picked the twists and turns of the story and it branched off always leading to a dead end… and then you started over trying desperately to find the real plot. I don't think I ever did. I tried to write one once, but it got very complex and I gave up. Enid Blyton’s “The Faraway Tree” series also captured my imagination. I’d read The Hobbit by age nine and the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy by age eleven. It was a green ticket book so I had to get parental permission each time I took it out. I have to admit, when I saw the films, the story made much more sense. I remember getting lost in the books - a lot!

I was big on Adventure too - Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven and the Famous Five - and when I hit my almost-teens it was Betsy Byars, Judy Blume and Paula Danziger walking me through the Birds and the Bees and what I had to look forward to when I hit my teens…

Of course, no pre Harry Potter childhood would be complete without a humungous helping of Roald Dahl and Dick King-Smith. I think I read every one of their books and they were just magical. I was lucky enough to meet Dick King-Smith once, along with Ruth Brown and Pat Hutchins (two other favourite childhood authors of mine). My Primary school held a book week and “Meet the author” type event for us - and it was one of the best weeks of my life!

I also remember reading a handful of Mills & Boon aged nine and a half, or thereabouts. Can’t say I understood much of what was going on... quite a bit of nakedness and rolling around in bed...

In my teens I discovered the beauty of the Classics and authors such as Mary Wesley, R F Delderfield and Irwin Shaw who used the World Wars as backdrops for their magnificent stories and wove class wars in between the lines.

Now I enjoy my Chick Lit and Crime Thrillers along with a regular helping of Maeve Binchy, Catherine Cookson and Danielle Steel. Current favourites are India Knight, Becky Monson, Lucy Diamond, Lee Child, James Patterson and Michael Crichton.

There is a ton of writing advice out there and I am in no way an expert, but I do have a few pearls to share. If you have read any of my blog, you will know I am a strong believer that being able to write is a gift – stringing words together and placing them side by side nicely so they make the reader actually feel something – you can’t teach that. With this in mind, by all means learn to improve your craft, yet seek out your individuality as well.

Other pearls of mine include: make time to write everyday, and keep a notebook and pen handy at all times, even by the bedside. If like me, you have your best epiphanies before falling asleep at night, don’t let your head hit the pillow without first jotting it down. I can guarantee the fuzz of the morning after will spoil the clarity.

I hope you enjoy my website as it takes you on my writing journey.

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FAVOURITE THINGS

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Books I will read over and over:

Don't You Want Me?, My Life On A Plate, Jane Eyre, Daz4Zoe, Diana, A Horseman Riding By, Whitethorn Woods, Forever...

Writers who have inspired me:

Judy Blume, Enid Blyton, Dick King-Smith, Betsy Byars, Roald Dahl, India Knight, Martina Cole, Mary Wesley, R F Delderfield, Lee Child, Michael Crichton, Catherine Cookson, Irwin Shaw, Maeve Binchy, JK Rowling...

Quotes that will always spur me into action:

“...if you don’t want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well - settle back into competency and be grateful you have even that much to fall back on.”
Stephen King’s On Writing

Currently listening to a lot of:

Daughter, Gotye, Laura Mvula, Paloma Faith, Jessie J, Usher, Drake, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj, Adele, Alicia Keys, Beyonce...

Currently watching a lot of:

Birds of a Feather, Frost, Morse, Midsomer Murders, Poirot, Bread, The Darling Buds of May, As Time Goes By, Mrs Brown's Boys, The Liver Birds, Only Fools & Horses, The Golden Girls, Miranda, Gold Rush, Bush Pilots, Modern Family...

Food:

Pumpkin cheesecake. Everytime.

Theatre:

Any show, any time. LOVE the theatre

Travel destinations:

All over the world but Africa is where my heart is. When I’m on safari with my camera in hand, I’m content as can be

Escapism:

Travel, photography, music, comedy and laughter

Temptations:

Cigars and pushing the boundaries

Best memories:

Listening to Long Wave radio Atlantic 252 with my brother and sisters
Last day of Senior school - writing on each others shirts, Year 11 Leavers' assembly & Summer Ball (still have that shirt!)

Tipple of the moment:

G&T with ice and lemon

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OTHER BITS

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Interesting facts:

Piara means "My Darling" in Indian and "herd of pigs" in Portuguese. I take the Indian translation!
I spend more time on my healthy teeth regime than I do exercising

I do not like:

Horror films and heavy metal

Scariest moments:

Listening to radio adaptations of Stephen King's Pet Sematary and Salam's Lot late at night with my sisters (in our early teens). Utterly terrifying!
Watching the film Seven - my over active imagination wouldn't let me forget it for months. I had nightmares galore. I only watched it for Brad Pitt!

Confessions:

I am a hopeless romantic

Ideals:

The only way to get over something is to get back on it