My Books

Goodreads would like to know what I am currently reading. Well, Goodreads, the book I’m currently reading is A Funeral for an Owl by Jane Davis. When there are so many choices of reading material, and my to-read pile is toppling, why should I revisit my own books with a fresh eye? Once I have published, shouldn’t I just move on? You might argue…
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The process of discovering your characters can be an odd thing. Sometimes it involves writing whole tracts that have no place in the novel that emerges. As so, I experienced  a strange sense of nostalgia when, this morning, I stumbled across a forgotten Word file. I wrote this text after visiting Waterstones, Piccadilly, in 2011, and getting the real…
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Last week Dan Holloway asked me about the research I had carried out for my novel, An Unchoreographed Life, which tells the story of a ballerina who turns to prostitution when she becomes a single mother. In truth, it was very easy to find historical accounts of prostitution. There was no shortage of reference books for…
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It’s always an exciting moment, tearing open the box containing the first print-run of your new novel. Fifth time round feels like quite an achievement. I deserve a drink. Cheers! To get your copy of An Unchoreographed Life, click here…   

Writing a novel about a ballerina who turns to prostitution seems a strange choice for a writer who normally goes out of her way to avoid writing sex scenes. And, no, it’s not simply out of fear of ending up alongside Manil Suri on the podium clutching a bad sex award, or the thought that my mother might read it….
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‘A beautiful object’ In his 2011 Man Booker acceptance speech, Julian Barnes was quick to praise the unsung hero in the publication process, his book cover designer, Suzanne Dean. But this was three years ago, and Barnes’s concern was the rise of the e-book which, as we all know, is no threat to the paperback. It is just another…
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Surrey Life Magazine’s book reviewer told me that she was intrigued by the sound of AN UNCHOREOGRAPHED LIFE, my story of a ballerina who, on becoming a single mother, turns to prostitution. But was I aware of the 1940 film, Waterloo Bridge (in which a ballerina, Myra – played by Vivien Leigh – resorts to prostitution when…
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Last night I made a new discovery. I’ve never pretended to understand Led Zeppelin. I wrote about their difficult rhythms in Half-Truths and White Lies and how, when Peter’s breakthrough comes, it is as if he has understood a difficult mathematical equation. Well, 37 years too late, I think I have finally got it. Just as…
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Perhaps my favourite description of writing is ‘arranging words in a pleasing order.’ (This comes courtesy of Sir Terry Pratchett. Again.) Even at last week’s book reading at Waterstone’s, I realised that if I were editing ‘Half-truths and White Lies’ now, I would have kept the language simpler. During my reading, I skipped over words that I thought…
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I have to admit that public speaking is not my favourite thing, but given that it is a necessary evil, last night’s talk at my local branch of Waterstone’s in Sutton was one of the more enjoyable events I have taken part in (and not only because we were able to extend the evening with a…
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