Blog

It’s no coincidence that, in the right light, the hero of my new novel, Winter Wishes at Roseford Reloved looks a lot like England men’s football manager Gareth Southgate. For ages, I’ve wanted to write a novel that puts a man like Gareth at the centre of it, and...

A number of years ago I wrote a blog post. It said… “My current work in progress, The Fake Date, is a story that’s made me laugh, cry and want to throw the laptop through the window. But I persevered. I kept going on the days I didn’t want to. Some days I’m on such a...

Derry Bakeries Do you know what a gravy ring is? Or a ‘wee German’? Did you know the arguments that have occurred over whether or not you butter a turnover? Or perhaps you are familiar with the hit TV series ‘Derry Girls’ and know that we all love a Cream Horn,...

Dear Readers, And you are! Very dear! I would like to introduce you to book two in the Forrester Detective Agency series, Fatal Lies. Fatal Secrets (book one) left us knowing who had murdered Dave Forrester, and now time has moved on. Dave’s son Matt has built up the...

Years ago, I went hiking in the Dolomite Mountains (Italian Alps) with some other philosophy professors and a couple of their kids. I grew up at the foot of the Rockies in Montana, but I’d never been hiking in Europe. Boy, was I surprised when we reached the top and...

Creating a playlist for my novels has become something of a tradition now. If you haven’t listened to the Missing Pieces and Nobody’s Wife playlists, you’re missing out! This time, I had a headstart because I included some songs in the book, on the playlists Jess’s...

Embarking on a novel about a woman with breast cancer when I’d just finished being treated for breast cancer was a risky move. I hoped it would be cathartic, and it was, on the whole. But it also dredged a lot of stuff up. It reminded me that this could have gone a...

Dear Reader, When I was thirty-five, and five months pregnant with my second child, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. No one expects to have to face cancer at that age; no one expects their body to turn on them just when they are busy creating new life. I waited,...

A Research Trip to Athens ✈️🇬🇷 One of my favourite things about writing is research I get to do in person, and when I decided to set a winter book in Greece obviously, I had to experience it for myself! Cue a winter trip to Greece’s capital, Athens, the location for...