More About My Work
Stories are the fabric from which our lives are made and writing enables me to spin yarns, weave tales and embroider the truth – no surprise then that I used to be a textile teacher. I get ideas from my own experiences but from all sorts of other sources too: classified ads, photos, “what if” scenarios, and from eavesdropping on buses – go on admit it, I’m not the only one. Sometimes I get ideas just by finding random words and letting my brain connect them into something meaningful on the page. It’s magic really.
My stories have been broadcast on Radio 4 and have been selected for numerous events and anthologies in the UK and abroad. I divide my time between Hastings and London, and I run creative writing workshops, for beginners and improvers. I also run spoken word events. I've just completed an M.A. in Creative Writing at Chichester University for which I was awarded a Distinction and was joint winner of the Kate Betts prize for excellence.
Publications
How to Make a Tote Bag and Heal your life, And they lived Happily Ever After, National Flash Fiction Day Anthology, July 2022
The Glorious Ginkgo, Hastings Online Times, Jul 7th 2022, , Hastings Online Times- Hastings Tree Guide No 10
The Tree That Came Back From the Dead , Hastings Online Times, Jun 28th 2022, Hastings Online Times- Hastings Tree Guide No 9
The Queen of All Trees, Hastings Online Times, Apr 25 2022, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 8
Plum Perfect , Hastings Online Times, Wed Mar 6th 2022, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 7
The Alder Generation , Hastings Online Times, Mar 2nd 2022, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 6
The Crunch and The Smash, Shortsmagazine, February 20 2022, www.shortsmagazine.com
Going Nuts About Hazel, Hastings Online Times, Feb 2 2022, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 5
Iris, Flash Fiction North, February 2022 Flash Fiction North Recent Fiction
The Art of Observation, Hastings Online Times, February 12 2022, https://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/hastings-life/hastings-people/the-art-of-observation
I Only Have Eyes for Yew, Hastings Online Times, February 6 2022, Hastings Online Times - I only have eyes for yew Tree Guide No 4
Bay Watch, Hastings Online Times, Jan 26 2022 Hastings Online Times – Bay Watch Tree Guide No 3
This Isn't Who I Am, Writers Forum Magazine, Jan 2022
Deck the Parks with Boughs of Holly, Hastings Online Times, Dec 15 2021, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 2
The Tree that would Puzzle a Monkey, Hastings Online Times, Wed Dec 1st 2021, Hastings Online Times – Hastings Tree Guide No 1
Meet Dr. Owen Johnson, Champion of Champion Trees, Hastings Online Times Nov 24 2021, Hastings Online Times – Dr Owen Johnson
Troubled Waters and Can Someone Please Chase this up Please? Inside no 13, Hastings Writers Group, 2021
Because The Night Belongs to Worriers, Funny Pearls, online, April 2021, Because the Night Belongs to Worriers by Joan Taylor-Rowan - funny pearls
The Mother of All Portraits, Hastings Online Times, Jan 14 2021, Hastings Online Times – Whistler’s Mother
Silence, Swamp Magazine, Issue 26, 2020
Born of Angels, Outsiders: Short Story Review 2020, Momaya Press, 2020
Go, Amigo, Go, Outsiders: Short Story Review 2020, Momaya Press, 2020
Inside the Egg, Make a Wish, Keep the Wish Secret – The 2017 & 2018 Cambridge Short Story Prize Anthology, TSS Publishing, 2019
Three Sisters on the Edge, Departures, (Ed. Cherry Potts), Arachne press, 2019
Five by Five, Twenty Five Stories by Five Writers, (Ed. Cherry Potts and Katy Darby), Arachne Press, 2018
Birdland, Stations, Ed. Cherry Potts, Arachne Press, 2012
Renewal, London Lies, (Ed. Cherry Potts), Arachne Press, 2012
The Birdskin Shoes, Create Space, 2012
Never Knowingly, Stories for Homes, Volume 2, Shelter, (Ed. Debi Alper), 2017
The Bet, Global Shorts, 2009
The Bet, Tales of the Decongested, Foyles, 2009
The Palais, Trout in the Milk (ed. Suzie Blair) New Fiction, 1992
Awards and Competitions
How to Make a Tote Bag and Heal your life, " And they all Lived Happily Ever After", National Flash Fiction Day Anthology, 2022
You Think You're So Bloody Special, Writers Forum Magazine, Jan 2022: shortlisted
Dryrobe, Hastings Writers' Group, Catherine Cookson cup, 2021: winner
This Isn't Who I Am, Writer Forum Magazine, Oct 2021: Winner
Dryrobe, Writers Forum Magazine, July 2021: shortlisted
Gulls Just Want to Have Fun, Southampton University Green Stories for Kids, 2020: winner
Born of Angels, Momaya Press international short story competition, 2020: shortlisted
Go, Amigo Go, Momaya Press international short story competition, 2020: shortlisted
Inside the Egg, Cambridge short story competition, 2018: second prize
Nola’s Ark, Mslexia young adult novel competition, 2017: longlisted
The Execution, Writer’s Village international short story competition, 2014: shortlisted
Close but not Warm, SLS international short story competition, 2012: runner up
Renewal, SLS international short story competition, 2012: finalist
Ha Ha Ha, ChapterOne international short story competition, 2009: highly commended
Close but not Warm, ChapterOne international short story competition, 2009: finalist
The Bet, Global shorts, 2009 : winner
The Bet, Asham Award, 2008: short-listed
Shoes of the Skin of a Bird, SpreadTheWord novel pitch competition, 2006: finalist
The Beam Room, BBC Radio 4, Dot Dot Dot…, 2001: winner
Broadcasts and Performance
How to Make a Tote Bag and Heal your life, Bath Flash Fiction Festival July, 2022
Dryrobe, Back in the Water: Short Stories for Brockley Max, Jun 2021
Three Sisters by the Sea, Departures: launch, London: 2019
The Bet, Short Story, Hastings: 2018
Inside the Egg, Three Sisters by the Sea, Bittersweet, like Pomegranates, Art Stories: One woman show Hastings: 2018
Is That What it’s all About? Weird Shit, Hastings: 2017
Last Will, White Rabbit, London: “Are You Sitting Comfortably?: 2015
Renewal, Liar’s League, London: 2013
Kandy Kottage: The Musical, Landor Theatre, London, March 2013
I’ve Always been a Good Girl, Liars League, New York: 2012
Never Knowingly, Liar’s League, Leeds: 2012
Slippage, Liar’s League, London: 2012
Admiration for the Oyster, Storytails, London: 2011
A Headful of Stories: One woman show, Upstairs at The Walrus: London 2011
Admiration for the Oyster, Foyles Bookshop, London: Tales of The decongested: 2010
Kandy Kottage, Liar’s League, London: 2009
The Bet, Foyles Bookshop, London: Tales of The decongested: 2009
Carmel’s Christmas, Foyles Bookshop, London: Tales of The decongested: 2008
Ha Ha Ha, Brighton Festival (Short Fuse):2008
Ha Ha Ha, BBC Radio 4, London: 2008
Close but not Warm, BBC Radio 4, London: 2006
The Beam Room, BBC Radio 4, London: 2002