I have always wanted to write since being a little girl. As a teenager I wanted to become a journalist and did my work experience at a local magazine. Following my A levels I applied to Cardiff University to study English Literature and then planned to embark on chasing my journalistic dreams. However, life doesn’t always go to plan. I studied Psychology in the year between sixth form college and university and I loved it so much that I contacted Cardiff University and switched my degree from English to Psychology.
After completing my degree I was set on a path to become a Forensic Psychologist and studied an MSc in Forensic Psychology at the University of Surrey. I worked in a forensic inpatient unit for a year before planning to take a year off to travel around Australia then continue with my Forensic Psychology career.
One year became five years thanks to a sponsorship, and I completed my Clinical Psychology training in Sydney and embarked on a career as a Clinical Psychologist. I did still write in my spare time and undertook a writing course in fiction which I loved. After five years I returned to the UK, worked as an Assistant Psychologist in North Lincolnshire then completed my doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at Southampton University.
These experiences of working and living in different parts of the UK and in Australia have been invaluable – they have provided opportunities for fun, friendship, emotional and personal growth, and exposure to different people from different walks of life. These experiences have benefitted me as a person, as a writer, and as a psychologist.
I now work as a Clinical Psychologist with my own practice, and am a mum to two lovely girls. We live with my husband, cats and chickens, and life treats us well. The desire to write is still a scratch that demands to be itched and I started writing a blog in lockdown. It was such a strange time to be alive and I had time on my hands so used it to document some of my thoughts and feelings about the extraordinariness of ordinary life. I have always planned to write a book ‘one day’ but I have come to realise that I could put writing off forever if I just wait to ‘find time’. As a working mum it is hard to find time, it is an elusive and slippery commodity!
In the end my hand (poised above keyboard) was metaphorically forced. I would tell my youngest daughter stories at bedtime and one day she asked if I could write them down for her. And thus began the Mabel and Max series.
I am planning a fictional novel for adults, have the plot mapped out and writing has begun. But it keeps getting delayed by periods of self-doubt and overwhelm. Slowly I will get there because there is still a little girl inside me who wants to write and wants to publish a book when she grows up!
Outside of writing, parenting and work, I like to learn new things and develop new skills. I enjoy horse-riding with my eldest daughter and am a fan of group exercise. I do enjoy a solitary run to clear my head, but nothing beats the fun and endorphin rush of a group workout, whether it is cardio, weights, or dance. I have always loved languages and studied French, German and Latin through school and university and have started to learn Spanish more recently as well as continuing my French studies. I have learnt to make soap and taught myself dressmaking, knitting and crochet. More recently I have taken up tap dancing. This is a strange and diverse collection of hobbies but reflect my interests. Life is for living so if I get the opportunity to grab a metaphorical bull by the horns, then I do, with both hands!
