For many years I’ve wanted and needed to write a story based on some of the things that happened in my childhood in Northern Ireland. These things either happened to me, to members of my family, or I was a (way too young) witness to some truly heart wrenching events. I’ve struggled with bringing this story into […]
Tag: Fiction
Synopsis: And The Buntings Flew
It is 1975, and shy, thoughtful eight-year-old Purdey (short for Perdita) is a mongrel ….
Why NaNoWriMo was a No No for me – quality, not quantity is my writing goal

NaNoWriMo is a fantastic concept for the budding novelist – the National Novel Writing Month which takes place annually in November saw more than 300,000 budding writers take up the challenge of writing a 50,000 novel in 30 days for the 2013 contest. I signed up in 2013, like so many others thinking this would […]
Using what I know to write about what I know – Using spreadsheets as a tool in my writing
At work I may have many names unknown to me, but one I do know and revel in is “Excel Queen”. I just love spreadsheets; when used properly they have so many uses aside from bean counting and graphs. Excel permeates every aspect of my life, probably because I am a list person, chart your […]
My First Novel Progress: And The Buntings Flew
I’ve written and publish a dozen or so non fiction (heath, well-being and spirituality) articles, but I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be a novelist. Wanting to be and getting on with it are very different things, and although I’ve been gathering material, carrying out research and messing about with names […]