Do you know what you values drive you, make you happy, push you to excellence? I recently undertook a short exercise to determine my own values and what my core drivers might be, so as to better understand the work I should be doing. Over the past couple of years I’ve discovered certain tasks drain […]
I’m not really one for reading the classics. I once read Wuthering Heights just so I could declare a dislike for it – having given up on the novel previously because of the hatred I had for Heathcliffe, despair with Catherine, and impatience with the narration by the housekeeper. Still, I make an effort on […]
Reading is my biggest distraction from life. No matter what else is going on around me I fall between the cracks of the words and into the page. I’m known to read books in a single sitting, if I can. Slotting a bookmark into a novel and halting the story, even if I know it […]
When I moved into my first apartment with my other half I waited three years before getting a dog. I can’t believe I went dog-less for so long: it would be impossible now. But then, I was working too hard and trying to do so much; eventually it led to my illness (more on that […]
Having a dog is one of the most significant aspects of my persona. Without one, I don’t feel whole; walking without a faithful (misbehaving) pooch never feels quite right. I’ve had a dog in my life since I was twelve years old and my parents and I bought a border collie pup from a farmer […]
I’ve known my best friend for half my life: we met in college and while we weren’t one of those so-close-we-live-in-each-other’s-pockets type of friends we have maintained the friendship through consistent determination and honest conversation. We didn’t go to the same Uni, we still struggle to call one another on a regular basis, and when […]
I kill people. I just can’t help it. There’s a running joke made by those who read my work that in pretty much every story I write somebody ends up dead. Or if not dead, dying – or dealing with death. Something deep inside me is hardwired to connect life with death, which may not […]
Here’s why I’m planning to publish a blog post each day in May 2018.
Squeezing in time to write can sometimes be the biggest barrier to actually getting anything written. Most of us have busy lives and a list of priorities that other people can often depend on. Fortunately, right now I am lucky enough to not be in such a category. Over the past three years I’ve had […]
I have this idea for a novel. The only thing is that it doesn’t match with the type of writing I really feel I want to do. It would most likely be categorised under the great header of ‘chick lit’ – and while I understand that such fiction has a huge place in the market […]
