My Story
I am Scottish and grew up just outside Edinburgh. I frequently return there – in person and in my writing – but for the last twenty-nine years I have lived in Sussex in a village close to the Ashdown Forest. I am trained as a nurse and combine running the medical department in a boarding school with writing novels.
I have written eight psychological/suspense thrillers and am working on my ninth. My novels have been translated into eight European languages and have been described as ‘creepy and gripping’ (Closer) and ‘remarkably assured… suspenseful narrative’ (Daily Mail)
I am happy to speak at writing events, book groups and libraries, and I run writing workshops for beginners and more experienced writers.
I was brought up in a small village outside Edinburgh called Bonnyrigg. The middle of three children, we went to the local Catholic school.
I studied at Edinburgh University from 1979-1984 and left with a BSc, registered nurse and registered district nurse certificates. A nurse’s training is, I think, an ideal beginning for any novelist who is primarily interested in character motivation as I am. A hospital ward is another world and people let their masks slip. It’s a privilege to be a part of their lives.
I met my husband at a macrobiotic cooking class, back before Gwyneth made it popular(!) We also practiced a meditation for many years and sent our three sons to an alternative school –Steiner Waldorf (Michael Hall in Forest Row) until they were eleven. I’m a great believer in the Jesuit saying, ‘Give me a child until he’s seven years old and there maketh the man.’
I have always been a voracious reader and was twelve when I first realised I might enjoy writing too. My final year in primary school I won a competition with the SSPCA – a story about how my dog, Snooky, would cope if she had to make her own way in the wild. A pushy, wee West Highland terrier, I imagined she would do rather well!
I wrote on and off thereafter, just for myself, diaries and the like. Time passed – career, family etc. – still writing but nothing that merited a reader and then, in 2004, I signed up for an adult education class in East Grinstead where I was lucky to be taught by an inspiring teacher.
In June 2007, I completed the creative writing certificate at Sussex University – met another great teacher - and by that stage had finished the first draft of Tell Me No Secrets. That same year, Tell Me No Secrets was short-listed in two competitions: the Daily Telegraph first 1,000 words of a novel and the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook first 10,000 words of a novel.
In October 2007, I was fortunate to find an agent who was willing to work with me. Although I could write, my plotting needed work and I rewrote the novel from Chapter Six onwards a couple of times.
Over the last twelve years I have experienced three significant losses - not unusual for a woman my age – my father’s death just before my first novel was published was a painful and difficult time for me. My older sister died two years later of an aggressive cancer. She was courageous and generous, and kept her sense of humour to the end. Then my husband and I separated – not an easy time either! - and he has since passed away.
I have three grown up sons, and one beautiful granddaughter. My eldest and youngest sons are married and both couples live in New York so I am treated to some fantastic holidays!
For any aspiring writers out there, my advice would be to stick at it, sign up for some courses, make writer friends, start your own writing group, listen to criticism, digest it, act on it – don’t give up!
My ultimate goal is to give readers’ pleasure.