I have been writing seriously since 2013, when semi-retirement allowed me to devote more time to what I really wanted to do. I published my first novel, ‘The Music of the Spheres’ at that time, having resurrected it from a drawer in which it had been languishing for at least ten years following the disbanding of my writing group.

Two further novels followed in 2014. ‘Deceiving Ellie’ was published on Valentine’s Day and ‘Chickens’ in July, but this was an important year for another reason, as I retired at the end of December and now write nearly every day. I had worked for thirteen years as a specialist teacher for children in care and I was a Primary teacher before that. I enjoyed my work, and found it enormously rewarding, but writing was always my first love.

I published two novels in 2015. ‘The Butterfly Effect’ is a psychological suspense novel, dealing with the subject of stalking and ‘The Art of Forgetting’ is about a family mystery that re-surfaces after many years. The story is set against the backdrop of the impact of dementia on the family.

My sixth novel is called ‘The Redemption Trials’ and was published in June 2016. It is a return to fantasy, although there are no mythical beasts in my story. It is the setting that is beyond reality, but I will not elaborate on that now.

My seventh novel is called ‘An Unfortunate Incident’ and was published in July 2017. The majority of the narrative takes place in the 1960s, and is told from the point of view of Alice, who is eleven years old. She is drawn into the very different world of Georgie, a new girl at her school, with disastrous consequences.

Novel number eight is called ‘Invisible Damage.’ It is about Sam, a woman who has left her abusive husband and seeks a new life. She applies for a job in a small country school with no expectation of being appointed, and is shocked when she is successful.

However, her experiences in her new surroundings are anything but peaceful and she has to contend with more than she could ever have imagined, as well as dealing with the ongoing psychological effects of coercive control. This is a novel that deals in an uncompromising way with this form of domestic abuse, but is ultimately hopeful, as the reader follows Sam’s recovery.

It will be clear from the above that I do not write in a single genre, nor do I write in a series. This is almost certainly a bad commercial decision but writing has to be fun for me, it has to be something I look forward to. It may be a long wait for my next novel, but why not give my blog a try? I think there may be a story unfolding there!