We all love stories, don’t we? We love to hear them, read them, tell them. Real life or fiction (or somewhere in between), outlandish or mundane, happy or sad, we are all living stories all the time. And humans are inquisitive creatures, we like to know about things, events, experiences, the works. We make our connections with the world and each other partly through stories. As a child I loved to read all sorts of things, (I still do) from fairy tales to mysteries, school based tales to high adventure.

Reading always made me want to write; I spent hours as a child penning my own books and stories. Even though my studies and profession took me along a different path, I never really stopped, and eventually took a course with the OCA, learning and gaining all sorts of things, not least some confidence and the pleasure of actually finishing a piece! And so I continued from there, writing, drafting, redrafting, putting manuscripts in a drawer for a month in disgust, only to find upon retrieving them that maybe they’re not quite as bad as I thought. Then, the biggest step of all – letting other people read my stories. I was lucky enough to join a writers circle, and it was an incredibly supportive, nurturing environment that helped me no end. Anne, Sheila, Barbara and Gwen, I can’t thank you enough. Your talent is an inspiration and your company a joy. So now I’m taking an even bigger leap and sharing them with a wider audience. I hope you enjoy my writing!