I qualified as a primary school teacher in 2001 and have worked in Cornwall since then. I started to write for SPCK Publishing assembly website in 2017 which provides high quality Christian assemblies for teachers. My dream would be to see my book published and for it to be a starting point for adults to truly understand childhood bereavement combined with the long term impact it has on mental health and grief in general. There are very few books or resources which can do this from a fictional point of view due to it being a challenging topic to fully understand and write about. However, I have a unique perspective.
Charlotte's Candle combines my knowledge and personal experience of when my Mum died when I was young, at a time when there was no help for children. Plus, as a teacher, I have taught pupils whose Mum or Dad have died and seen the impact of current bereavement support has on children today. However, this only works well if the surviving parent accepts and engages with that guidance and advice. When I did A Levels Communications at Sixth Form College, I wrote a leaflet about childhood bereavement as I had delayed grief and I wanted to work through it. A few years later, aged 21, I knew I wanted to write something further about bereavement which is why I've ended up writing my book. Even though my main character, Charlotte, has the same starting point as me - her Mum dies when she was 11 years old, it's not my story but it raises many questions I had after my bereavement.
I enjoy travelling and one of my favourite trips was to New Zealand but, the first time I flew in a plane, was when I did a parachute jump for charity. My Christian faith is an important part of my life along with my cat who thinks she owns my house. She's probably right!
My second entry, Dash the School Cat and Nap Time, is the first in a series of rhyming stories about a school cat (Other stories are: Dash the School Cat and Bonfire Night, Dash the School Cat and Sports Day and I'm now working on another one - Dash the School Cat and School Camp). Inspired by the school cat who used to live at my primary school when I was a child. The headteacher used to sit on a different chair or on the floor when the cat was asleep on his headteacher's chair! My old primary school just happens to be the school I teach at. I would love these books to become picture books as it's just a different way of writing about the school environment.
