WHAT I DO NOW
Having completed an MA in Creative Writing with Arts University Bournemouth, I am continuing my fiction journey by completing the short story manuscript I started writing on the course.

SHORT STORIES
I love the short fiction genre for the micro worlds those brief stories open up: potted worlds. I enter a lot of competitions, a compulsive habit that has so far won me a shortlist spot on the Bath Short Story Award 2025. It’s a great way of honing my skills, as the process requires discipline and creativity.

LIFE BEFORE THE MA
I was a lifestyle writer, C for consumer, working across travel, retail, heritage, education, health, beauty, property and wellbeing websites. I created:
• new words for websites
• edits on existing content
• single pages (like a profile page, about page, product page)
• interior design stories, case studies, and testimonials
• blogs and articles.

HOW DID IT START?
My career began in a different camp. I went from a North London comprehensive to a Fine Art degree in printmaking in Hull (when Lawson was ‘Pearce’ and the fishermen had not long left town), but I kept my eye on the journalism route. Every summer I found internships at magazines in London, taking a post-grad job as a typist in a features agency. That led to a short course in journalism, which set in motion my career as a writer and editor.

WHERE HAVE I WORKED?
I’ve freelanced for 30 years, but these companies contributed in a major way to my early career trajectory:
• Bristol United Press
• Emap Elan (Slimming Magazine)
• BBC Worldwide (BBC Good Homes Magazine)
• Publicis Blueprint (Asda Magazine)
• John Brown Publishing (John Lewis Edition Magazine)
I set up Wordfairy in 2018, creating content and offering an editing service. More details on my LinkedIn page.

SINGAPORE 2012-2017
From 2012 to 2017, I lived and freelanced in Singapore, landing a job as an editor on an events website. I was also a tour guide at The Peranakan Museum, and wrote a travel blog at partlycloudy.co.uk. You can find some of the posts here.

WHAT ELSE?
• I’ve completed various writing courses at the Open University and Curtis Brown Creative. Being an older student is brilliant; if you get the chance, do it.
• Like most people I love travel, holidays, culture. From Malaysian food stalls to deserted Greek beaches and stylish Lisbon breakfasts, I’ve many favourite bookmarks around the globe. Couldn’t do Race Across the World, though...
• Bring me a bowl and a whisk, and I’ll whip up a cake. Nothing fancy, just a big, oozy Victoria Sponge with jam and cream.
• I do love a sing: loudly in the shower, with my dad at Cornish venues, a spot of pub karaoke, hovering over the stove. Sorry, neighbours.
• I’m surrounded by family and friends: one husband, one son, one dad, one sister, one brother-outlaw, two cats, many cousins, an aunty, uncle, best friends who are now family. Lucky, aren’t I?
• There is so much to come, and I’m here for all of it, charting everything one word at a time.