Nice to meet you, this is my story. I write stories of the past and the future.
The eldest of four children, I’ve been writing poetry and making up stories since I was a child, in London. My work brought me to Swansea in Wales, where I married and settled. We have four children, and I’m now a grandmother eight times. I only began to write for publication when my children left home.
My ambition was to write science fiction, and I tinkered with a novel for years. However, one day I looked up at the ruins of Swansea Castle and wondered what it was like when it was lived in. I Googled it and became fascinated by Swansea and Gower medieval history. My research led me to the story of Alina de Braose, but in the middle of assembling Alina’s story from multiple sources I had a major stroke.
When I came home from hospital, I occupied my time completing Alina’s story and learning to self-publish in print and ebook. My husband contacted the local Art College and they found a talented student, Carrie Francis, who drew the illustrations for the book. Alina, The White Lady of Oystermouth was published at Easter 2012, and is the only book about her.
Early retirement from work gave me more time to concentrate on my writing. The sales of over 300 copies of Alina in local shops and museums, and at speaking engagements, led to a second local history book, Broken Reed: The Lords of Gower and King John in September 2013. To coincide with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta I published the The Magna Carta Story: The Layman’s Guide to the Great Charter at Easter 2015. Medieval Gower Stories, is a collection of ten other stories I found in my research, published in October 2017. Swansea Miracle is the latest, published in January 2022.
When I was in hospital I wrote a flood of poetry, about my stroke, my therapy, my faith, and random things like the rain outside the window. I published them as an ebook, My Stroke of Inspiration in August 2015, and also more recently in print. 22 poems in all: verse, doggerel, and blank verse. It’s a surprisingly cheerful collection. The poems talk about suffering and patience, therapy and faith. These poems will comfort, encourage and inspire you, whether you are a stroke survivor or not.
I’m still working on my recovery from the stroke, and although I’m disabled I lead a very busy life. I’m involved in church and active on social media. My science fiction is a series called Flight of the Kestrel, and the first book Intruders was published in April 2016. The second, Alien Secrets, was published in October 2018. The third, Crisis of Conscience, was published in June 2021.There are at least two more books planned, watch out for Planet Downfall and a spin-off book.
In 2019 I decided to take my writing seriously and treat it as a business, not a hobby. I previously posted writing tips, and although I don’t do that any more I have imported the blog posts here and you can find them in the dropdown of the Blog/Categories menu. I now format, publish and promote all my own work and have helped publish a couple of other people’s books. Feel free to contact me if you want any advice.
I’ve been a member of Swansea and District Writers Circle for many years and have work published in three of its anthologies: The award-winning Unforgotten: The Great War 1914-1918, Dark Gathering, and the latest Change Anthology which I put together and published. There is also a Christian resource book called Blinded by the Light, published in February 2020.
Who knows what’s coming next?