Ever struggled to find a moment to …
I wrote this piece back in 2015 when Olivia was only two. As part of my university module on contemporary literature I had to write a response to Kathleen Jamie’s Sightlines, focusing on moments of…
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Cape Cod, Summer Home of the Great …
“It’s a bit Jaws-esque,” Chris says as we climb out of the car. “What does that mean?” Olivia asks. “Nothing,” I say, shooting a warning look at Chris who really should know better than to…
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I am ill and convinced it’s …
I JUMP out of bed, race to the door, and start screaming. Someone is coming to murder me. I scream louder. I’m so loud I wake myself up. “What’re you doing?” Chris is sitting bolt…
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Making the daily commute more bearable
IT is Wednesday and the traffic is crawling along. It is only the third day back after our two-week holiday and already the 60-mile daily commute is bringing out the worst in me. I sit…
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Jon McGregor discussing Reservoir 13 at Waterstones Sheffield
I WENT to hear Jon McGregor read from his latest novel, Reservoir 13, on Wednesday night at Waterstones Sheffield. In the year since the book launched, it’s won the 2017 Costa Novel Award, been longlisted…
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18 FOR 2018
ADMITTEDLY, I’m a bit late to the party with this. The 18 For 2018 idea has been doing the rounds in the blogging community, and I’ve been so busy reading other people’s plans for the…
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New Year, New Blog
I’ve decided to revive this blog! It is the new year after all and everyone, myself included, is full of enthusiasm for their new year’s resolutions. I’ve done this before, of course, back in January…
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Wedding planning and writing
Organising our wedding is taking up a lot of my time, but I am managing to snatch some writing time here and there, so I have to be grateful for that. I came home from…
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My Open University journey
On Thursday I handed in my final project for my degree in English literature. It marks the end of six years of part-time study with the Open University. It began back in 2010, with a…
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Writing update
It’s been a long time since my last update, so there’s a lot to catch up on. The most exciting thing is that I’m now being mentored by two novelists. Susan Elliot Wright and Russ…
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