Contemporary YA fiction, scripts for TV, film and radio, and comedy …

… human drama + real-life problems = compelling stories you don’t want to miss.

Screenplay Success

Success for The Wall, in which a gifted teen drummer is forced to walk Hadrian’s Wall with her recently widowed mother and a homeless juggler. For one of them, it is a dream come true, but for the others it might be a step too far.

* London International Screenwriting Competition Semi Finalist
* Manchester Film Festival Quarter Finalist
* UCLan Matt Greenhalgh Award for Best Script 2022 , as chosen by the tutors on the MA Scriptwriting course.

Once again, I am very proud to receive these laurels from the WOFFF, for placing my short film script – The Moboteers – in 3rd place.

ACT YOUR AGE – MONARCHY MONOLOGUES

Watch my Anne Boleyn monologue here
Produced by Act Your Age Productions, featuring Liz Mente Bishop.

Very proud to have recently received these laurels for my short film script, DOOMSDAY

BIRDMAN

My radio play ‘Bird Man’ was recently performed at Hope Mill Theatre as part of the Act Your Age New Writing Festival. I’d like to thank actors, Steve Titley, Mary Lyons, William Teller, and Janet Lilley who did a wonderful job bringing my script to life and making everyone laugh.

In this farcical exploration of ambition, self-proclaimed genius and chicken farmer Dick has collected feathers over the years and is trying to save the world by becoming the next Henry Ford of flight. His incredulous (and cheating) wife shakes off his dreams, but was she too hasty to dismiss his potential?

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London International Screenwriting Competition

My TV comedy-drama, “The Cleaner” was selected as a semi-finalist by London International Screenwriting Competition.

I am an International Rubery Book Award Winner!

I am thrilled that BRING ME SUNSHINE is the ​Children’s & Young Adult​ Winner of the 2018 International Rubery Book Award. ​The Rubery Prize is a prestigious international book award seeking the best books by indie writers, self-published authors and books published by independent presses. Thank you to the judges for this high accolade, and congratulations to all the other shortlisted finalists and winners.

Story Making with Children

Children love to tell stories and to let their imaginations run wild. In a school setting, they do not always have the time and freedom to do this in their own way. I am now happy to offer one-to-one story creating sessions with children, in which they will tell the stories they want to tell. As well as having fun, story making can boost self-esteem, increase self-confidence, improve concentration, develop reading and writing skills, encourage creativity and creative thinking, and help with problem-solving. I am a qualified teacher and writing therapist. Contact me if you think your child would benefit from some fun story making sessions.

Laughter Yoga

I am now a certified Laughter Yoga Leader, and I would love to visit your school and help your children laugh! Find out more here.

Triskele Big 5 2018 shortlist!

I am delighted to be on the Triskele Big 5 2018 Mentorship Competition shortlist! This is for my work in progress, Still Breathing Air. The winner will be announced in November. Good luck everyone 🙂

Honorary Mention

Proud to have been given an Honorary Mention in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators competition, Undiscovered Voices 2018, for my most recent novel, The Girl Whose Mother Robbed a Bank.


In Your Write Mind

Now available to buy. Just £7.99
A toolbox of therapeutic and creative writing exercises to help you feel happier, think more clearly, be kind to yourself, solve problems, clarify goals, uncover hidden beliefs, and fictionalise your life. Use these simple exercises as a starting point to deeper self-knowing, then change them, develop them, invent new exercises, or even write a book … and have fun doing it!
See also, The Benefits of Therapeutic Writing

AMAZING book review

This incredibly lovely review was created by the Kindle Ninja, after he had read Bring Me Sunshine. I am totally bowled over! It’s awesome.
KN – Thank you for the time and effort you put into making this. I really appreciate it. ♥


Wonderful feedback

Students on the Working with Children, Young People and Families course at Cumbria University were asked to read Bring Me Sunshine as part of the Young Person in Focus module. I supplied them with free access to the book, and in return, they each wrote a letter of feedback, with their thoughts and responses to the story. Their comments were just wonderful and I cannot thank them enough for their thoughtful insights into my writing and the lives of young carers. Here is just a very short selection of comments from the forty pages of feedback I received.

Buy my books

Bring Me Sunshine
FINALIST in the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition 2013.
Paperback  £6.99

KS2 and KS3 Schools’ Resources Packs for Bring Me Sunshine now available – FREE!

Where Bluebirds Fly

Paperback – £6.99

I am on the list…

… of The Guardian Readers’ recommended self-published authors!
Back in June, The Guardian Newspaper asked readers to tell them about the best self-published books they had discovered, and out of over 3,200 authors, they featured just 34 ‘great authors’, including me! 
So a big THANK YOU to everyone who recommended Bring Me Sunshine.