Like my main character Laelia, I wear hearing aids in both ears (following hearing loss associated with the chronic illness Hashimoto’s which I was diagnosed with eight years ago) and I’m passionate about removing their stigma, particularly amongst non-pensioners (!) Apart from that, I'm nothing like Laelia.
I started writing my novel LIME JUICE MONEY whilst on the Faber & Faber Academy 'Writing a Novel' course which I completed last year. In May 2023, LIME JUICE MONEY was longlisted (into the final 32 from over 1,640 entries) for the international ‘Cheshire Novel Prize’ which is due to shortlist in July. I was also longlisted for the London Library Emerging Writers Programme in 2022.
I’m lucky to call the Women’s Prize shortlisted author Jill Dawson my mentor, and in December, I was selected to join Curtis Brown’s Breakthrough Mentoring Programme. I was delighted that the one mentor I’d picked out as really wanting also chose me – Chloe Timms.
I have a BA in English Literature and French (with Quebecois literature) from the University of Leeds, and an MBA from Ashridge Business School. In 2015, I came runner-up in Elle magazine’s short story competition, the only writing competition I had ever entered until this year. I used to run a literary gift company, Bookish which I sold in 2016.
I have lived in France and New Zealand, amongst other countries, and now live in West Sussex, England with my partner, two energetic young boys and two bouncy Portuguese Water Dogs. My energy levels are inversely proportional to theirs.
LIME JUICE MONEY is my first novel.
