Nearly my whole working life has involved the written word: editing, teaching, researching, writing about, and promoting other people's words. Despite that, I only started writing fiction six years ago. I love to tell stories and mostly write uplit, and contemporary fiction. People's lives fascinate me and I love uncovering the extraordinary stories behind the most ordinary lives. In 2017 I was selected for Curtis Brown Creative's selective three-month novel writing course, and have worked to develop my writing since then. In 2021 I entered the Bridport Prize and reached the top 10% of entries. In 2022 I submitted that novel, and Johnnie Lambert's Guide to Life to the Page Turner Awards Mentorship Category as I was aware that I needed a bit of help to get my writing "over the line". Both novels were longlisted and Johnnie Lambert was shortlisted. I was delighted. In July 2023 Johnnie Lambert was longlisted for the Jenny Brown Associates Debut Authors Over 50s Award, reaching the top 40 entrants of 1700 entries.Thanks to the encouragement of these results, I've now completed Johnnie Lambert and submit it here for the Writing Award. In addition, I've written: three plays for radio; several short stories; have three novels in various stages of writing and editing; three children's books and a play about the peacocks that live in Pittencrieff Park in my home town in Fife, Scotland. My biggest claim to fame is that one of those peacocks is now named after me.
