Although I have written throughout my life, starting as a small child with stories about dogs and ponies, I left fiction behind as an adult and concentrated on writing instructional books and journalistic columns. Then, when I retired, I rediscovered fiction and entered a world of fantasy and suspense which fills my every waking moment. I can’t believe how much I am enjoying my writing and how I have missed the sheer pleasure of telling myself a story and discovering how it ends.
Beginning with a fairy story for small children, Charlotte and the Fairies, I let my imagination start to flow again, and after years of striving for accurate reporting, I could allow my mind to drift off into the world of fantasy and let anything happen. I was fortunate to have this first book picked up by a publisher, and with the aid of a wonderful illustrator it came to life in 2020.
Later that same year, Beasts and Butterflies, a hard-hitting women’s fiction novel, which I’d been working on for a couple of years, was published by the same publisher, and I was the proud author of two books in one year.
After that, I wrote a sequel to Charlotte called Charlotte, the Fairies and the Monster and another children’s book for the slightly older 8-12 age group, The Sheepdog that Didn’t like Sheep. I had also completed another adult novel called Angel, but the publisher wanted to wait to gauge sales of the first two books before committing, and told me I was writing too fast for them!
Then I discovered Victorina Press and the wonderful team, who not only accepted Angel for publication, but were always reachable by phone or email to help, encourage or simply be there – and Angel is now a reality.
When I was working I always thought of reading as at best an indulgence and at worst a waste of time. I was foolish enough to think that instead of spending time reading I could be writing, and vastly underestimated the value that reading brought to my own writing. Studying the art of storytelling, as executed by many different authors in their own individual ways, has allowed me to find my own voice, as have all those who have helped me along the way.
My reading preferences have changed over the years. I used to read quite serious historical novels in my younger days, but I am now far more eclectic in my choices and lean more towards fantasy and crime, with Ellie Griffiths, T J Green and R J Crane topping my present list of favourite authors. I am also an avid Harry Potter fan, and have read and re-read the seven books multiple times, still occasionally finding something previously missed. What a wonderful author JK Rowling is!
I don’t know where my writing will take me next, or if my already completed books will ever be published, but what I do know is I will not stop writing. I may not have discovered my love of fiction writing until very late in life but what better way to spend a retirement than making up stories!
