I am by profession a writer of features, non-fiction, fiction and the occasional poem. I write for fun, for money and because I just have to in order to stay sane. So a page on this site will tell you a little more and whizz you straight through to my blog, No wriggling out of writing, a favourite place to write regularly on subjects as diverse as mental health, family history and John Keats, a poet I return to again and again as a source of inspiration.
I am also an experienced researcher, specialising in the labour market , skills and learning and work closely with a number of not-for-profit organisations.
But my past history? Well that is a somewhat eclectic mix of careers, suggesting to the cynical that perhaps I am just incapable of making up my mind what I want to do with my life. I prefer to call it 'experience'......
I took up nursing at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel because a) it was very Dickensian and housed the bones of the Elephant Man and b) it was close to my beloved Hackney speedway. Oh and I wanted to help people get better. Unfortunately some people didn't and I just couldn't deal with that. Good nurses have an emotional detachment that I was pathologically unable to develop.
Then I studied for a degree in law, partly inspired by watching Kramer v Kramer . The study was wonderful but after obtaining a very good degree I trained as a barrister. I had to admit it was not for me when I wanted to shout 'That's not fair M'lud' and burst into tears.
However, a law degree is a great basis for a career in research and my commitment to social justice led me into housing services and then Economic & Community Development. Moving from Brighton to the west country I went freelance and since 2001 have worked extensively with local and regional public and voluntary sector organisations on needs analysis and evaluation projects.
My first love though is writing and I have now been writing features on women's issues, health and family and social history for the past two years.
I hope this site will help you find out a little more about me and introduce you to some of my published work. I am also excited to have a published book to my name - Dandelions and Bad Hair Days - and three social history book projects commissioned for publication (by Pen and Sword Books) in the next two years. And of course there is Lavender Larceny a cosy and hopefully comic crime novel and my ghost stories, published on Kindle in 2013....
I am also an experienced researcher, specialising in the labour market , skills and learning and work closely with a number of not-for-profit organisations.
But my past history? Well that is a somewhat eclectic mix of careers, suggesting to the cynical that perhaps I am just incapable of making up my mind what I want to do with my life. I prefer to call it 'experience'......
I took up nursing at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel because a) it was very Dickensian and housed the bones of the Elephant Man and b) it was close to my beloved Hackney speedway. Oh and I wanted to help people get better. Unfortunately some people didn't and I just couldn't deal with that. Good nurses have an emotional detachment that I was pathologically unable to develop.
Then I studied for a degree in law, partly inspired by watching Kramer v Kramer . The study was wonderful but after obtaining a very good degree I trained as a barrister. I had to admit it was not for me when I wanted to shout 'That's not fair M'lud' and burst into tears.
However, a law degree is a great basis for a career in research and my commitment to social justice led me into housing services and then Economic & Community Development. Moving from Brighton to the west country I went freelance and since 2001 have worked extensively with local and regional public and voluntary sector organisations on needs analysis and evaluation projects.
My first love though is writing and I have now been writing features on women's issues, health and family and social history for the past two years.
I hope this site will help you find out a little more about me and introduce you to some of my published work. I am also excited to have a published book to my name - Dandelions and Bad Hair Days - and three social history book projects commissioned for publication (by Pen and Sword Books) in the next two years. And of course there is Lavender Larceny a cosy and hopefully comic crime novel and my ghost stories, published on Kindle in 2013....
