People often ask me how I became an author.
The truth is, I don't think my story began with a laptop, a notebook or even an idea for a book.
I think it began many years ago in a little greengrocer's shop in a small rural village in Staffordshire.
My nan owned the shop, and it was the heart of the community.
Back then, people didn't rush in and out. They stopped for a chat. They shared their news, celebrated happy moments and sometimes quietly talked about the things that were breaking their hearts.
Looking back now, I realise my nan wasn't just selling fruit and vegetables.
She was listening.
Women trusted her with their stories. They confided in her about family worries, marriages, children, grief and life itself. She never judged anyone, and she never repeated a word. Their stories stayed safely with her.
After serving a customer, she'd often come into the back room, smile and say,
"Oh, I could write a book!"
Those words stayed with me, although I didn't realise at the time just how important they would become.
Years later, I found myself following a surprisingly similar path.
I spent more than twenty-five years working with children and families, eventually running my own preschool. Like my nan, I found myself listening every day. Parents shared their worries about their children, staff talked about their own lives, and families trusted me through some of the happiest and hardest moments they would ever face.
And, just like my nan, I'd often turn to my staff and laugh,
"I could write a book!"
Not because I wanted to tell other people's stories—they were never mine to tell—but because those conversations, together with my own life experiences, taught me so much about people, resilience, heartbreak, healing and hope.
For years, though, becoming an author remained just a dream.
I even paid two different ghostwriters to write my first book.
Neither of them sounded like me.
The words were there, but my voice wasn't.
Then one conversation changed everything.
A friend asked me a question that, at the time, seemed so simple.
"What do you want to achieve by writing a book?"
Without even thinking, I replied,
"I want my story to help heal other people."
She looked at me for a moment and said something that completely changed my life.
"Then why write one book? Why not write lots of books, each helping people in different ways?"
That was it.
One sentence.
One conversation.
One completely new direction.
She showed me how to publish on Amazon, and from that day onwards, I never looked back.
Today I've written books about emotional healing, childhood experiences, menopause, spirituality and personal growth. Each one has grown from something I've learned, experienced or felt passionate enough to share.
But my favourite books to write are, without question, The Emily Series.
Emily wasn't just a character I dreamed up.
She was real.
A beautiful black pony with a white star on her forehead that I bought for my daughter on her ninth birthday.
She gave us years of adventures, muddy boots, Pony Club rallies, laughter and memories that still make me smile today.
Writing those stories allows me to relive a little of that magic and, I hope, pass it on to children who dream of ponies just as my daughter once did.
More recently, I've begun another lifelong dream—writing historical fiction. I'm currently researching and writing a novel set in Yorkshire in AD 893, bringing to life the ordinary people whose stories history so often forgets.
Although my books cover very different subjects, they all have one thing in common.
They're about people.
They're about hope.
They're about understanding ourselves and each other a little better.
Looking back now, I realise my nan unknowingly planted the seed that would one day become my writing career.
She never lived to see me become an author.
She died in 1993, playing cards, drinking a whisky and laughing with friends.
When I think about it, I can't imagine a more wonderful way to leave this world.
Sometimes I wonder what she'd say if she could see all the books I've written.
I'd like to think she'd smile, laugh, and say,
"Well... one of us finally wrote that book!"
Every time I sit down to write, I carry a little piece of her with me.
Not because I'm telling the stories she heard in that little greengrocer's shop—they were never mine to tell—but because she taught me something that has shaped every book I've ever written.
Everyone has a story.
Sometimes, the greatest gift we can give another person isn't advice.
It's simply taking the time to listen.
Thank you for visiting my little corner of the internet. Whether you've found me through one of my healing books, the Emily Series, my historical fiction, or simply because you were curious about my journey, I'm so glad you're here. I hope you'll stay awhile and explore the stories I've written—because perhaps one of them is exactly the story you need today.