Welcome! Thanks for joining me here.
Hi David. Thanks for inviting me to guest post on your blog. Most kind.
What should my followers know about you?
Let’s see…I love tomatoes in all their forms. I revert to a Midlands accent at family gatherings. I live in France in a crumbly old Charentaise house with a husband who looks like a rock star and our two enormous sons. I wish I’d taken a degree in astrophysics. I read a lot of poetry and listen to it online (I think I know Wordsworth’s Prelude by heart). I also like Daft Punk.
What inspired you to begin writing?
I couldn’t find a teaching job in France and after a few months of lounging about, I got very, very bored. I’ve always loved observing the world in all its perverse and intricate systems, and I especially love finding out what makes other people tick. Once I started creating my own characters and plonked them into settings I know well, I couldn’t stop. I dream up plots – especially in the garden, or on walks along the coast.
Why did you focus on this genre?
My latest book? I wanted to write about a woman who excels in her chosen career, who has a mysterious past, who has heightened extrasensory perceptions, and who has a symbiotic working relationship with a devastatingly attractive man. That’s how DCI Alice Candy came to life. I also love working out intricate plots to try to confound my readers.
In general, I write in lots of different genres. Bit of a magpie. I read a book, get an idea and jot down frameworks. The result is that I have far too much going on in my head and in my computer files at all times.
Are you working on any other books?
Yes! See above. At present I’m in a tussle with Memoir of an Overweight Schoolgirl, getting into a delightful tangle with the second DCI Alice Candy story, over my head and drowning exquisitely in a science fiction trilogy about corruption and alternative social setups – I could go on…
Okay, here's a challenge. Sum up your current book in TWO sentences.
I’ve just published Locked Away, the first in my DCI Alice Candy series. Two sentences? Here goes…
Imagine you have a secret past and a set of unusual extra sensory perceptions, not to mention beautiful eyebrows and long, long legs. Join forces with a partner who looks like Chris Pine and prepare to take on some pretty baffling cases.
Where can people buy your book?
Amazon or Amazon. Oh, and in the near future, in a book shop in Bridgnorth.
What are the 3 words that best describe you?
My sister says I’m kind.
My husband says I’m rude.
I say I’m content.
Above all, I’m human – like everyone else.
Tell us about your work, away from writing?
I teach English to delightful French kids, wear out washing machines and vacuum cleaners, know how to do DIY (acid cleaning terracotta tiles a speciality).
What hobbies do you enjoy?
I love to look at the night sky, especially in the winter, when there are no mosquitos. I’ll walk anywhere, any time, for as far as is permitted. Reading is a given.
What would people be most surprised to see on your Kindle or bookshelf?
Well. That’s a question I’ll have to think about. Let me go and have a look… Not many surprises, unless you count a very clean pillow I keep for when my mum visits.
What are you currently reading?
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
Blindness (Vintage Classics) by Jose Saramago
Tell me your 3 favourite authors?
Too difficult. I love all kinds of well-written books. If I have to mention a few: Annie Proulx, Margaret Atwood, Khaled Hussein, David Mitchell, George Eliot.
I love music, and always interested in the musical tastes of other people.
Tell me your 3 favourite songs, if you can?
Too difficult. I love all kinds of music, apart from real commercial pap. No, wait! Sometimes I like that too.
What song best describes your life?
No idea – sorry.
In the story of your life, who would you like to play you?
Diana Rigg
Who is the person, living or dead, you would most like to spend a day with?
Shakespeare – he’s got a lot of explaining to do! The hours I endured at university listening to lectures and taking part in tutorials, analysing whether he intended a particular play to be tragic, funny or historical…
Finally, what’s next for you?
More writing, and trying to survive the expense of putting two sons through university. Luckily, living on bread and cheese in France is not so bad, especially when a bottle of good Bordeaux is cheaper than a pint of Boddingtons (mmm, how I miss English beer!).
Thanks again for having me, David.
