ABOUT ME
Originally from Liverpool, UK, I spent eighteen years in Leeds, studying, working and generally having fun. In 2011, with our second child on the way, my husband and I decided to return to the northwest, the amazing city of Liverpool, and our families.
Now, my loyalties straddle the Pennines, with little roots in Norway, where I lived and studied for a year, and Australia too, where I lived and worked from 1999 to 2000.
After an English Literature BA and MA at the University of Leeds, and a number of in-betweeny temping jobs (a story-mine in themselves, for sure), I spent ten years training and then practising as a lawyer. I left my lawyer days in Leeds, though, and in 2011 trained as a proofreader. You can find my proofreading business details here.
In December 2015 I saw a Facebook advert for a short story writing course at the Bluecoat Arts Centre in Liverpool, with one two-hour session a month. This seemed a manageable commitment amongst everything I was juggling at the time, and I started the course in January 2016. Since then I’ve taken a few other courses and write when I can; often I go two or three weeks without getting a word down.
I write short stories and flash fiction, which I'm relatively new to. I’ve had a few stories published, in print and online, and some have been shortlisted or longlisted in competitions. My novella-in-flash, Homing, was published in June 2019 by Ad Hoc Fiction, which is quite possibly one of the best things that's ever happened to me.
For 2019 to 2020 I have received an Arts Council DYCP grant to enable me to dedicate more time to work on my next project, a historical novel in short chapters. I am immensely grateful to Arts Council England for this opportunity, which has given additional validation to my writing, and the confidence to push the boundaries in terms of what flash fiction and the novel form can achieve when paired together.
In April 2020 I won the Cambridge Prize for Flash Fiction, with my 400-word story, 'Yew', which you can read here.
As you can see, I like shelves. And the things that go on them.
