My writing friend, Liv Thomas, who with her co-author recently had a top ten Kindle bestseller with Beneath an Irish Sky, under their pen name of Isabella Connor, has invited me to take part in the Lovely Blog Hop, in which writers talk about some of the things that shaped their life and writing.
At the end of the post, I’ve linked two other writing friends, this time from the Write Romantics, who will tell you about themselves. It’s also a great way to discover blogs you might not have known about…
First Memory
My first memories are all linked to a house we moved to when I was three years old, as I don’t remember the house we lived in before at all, and many of them to my older sister of two years – Sam. We were typical sisters, who bickered a lot but also played together. Although, being older, she would pick on me a bit and gang up with the girl next door to make me eat mud! My now wild, Russell Brand-esque hair was more desirable back when I was a toddler, and it was all cherubic curls, which everyone raved over… until, one day, when my mum was on the phone and Sam decided to give me a rather drastic home hair cut! Despite all of this, one of my earliest memories is, aged three, standing with my face pressed up against the yellow metal gate at the end of our path, waiting for my sister to come back from her first day at primary school. She might have driven me mad at times, but I still missed her when she wasn’t there. Here’s the two of us a few years later, rocking that late 70s look!
Books
We’ve done this before on the blog, admittedly, but I’ve always loved reading and tried writing my 
first novel at aged seven. My favourite way to spend a Sunday as a teenager was to lie on my bed with my back pressed up against a warm radiator, reading until Sunday had slipped into Monday. My teenage writing heroine was probably Jilly Cooper and, for lots of girls my age, reading Riders was a rite of passage. Although I loved Sue Townsend just as much, but for very different reasons, and still hook up with Adrian Mole every time I really need cheering up. These days, I love writers who can combine humour and emotional storylines – like Julie Cohen and Jo Jo Moyes – and, having finally given in to a Kindle and found out I love it, there’s more reason than ever to read into the wee small hours.
Libraries
I can vividly remember going to the library every week with my mum as a child and loving the 
children’s section and the huge range – as it had seemed back then – of books to choose from. I even wanted to be a librarian for a bit and having my own date stamp seemed such a wonderful prospect! Later on, as mum myself, I took both my children to ‘Baby Bounce and Rhyme’ at the local library to help introduce them to stories, poetry and books in general. Both of them now enjoy reading and Harry has raced through all the Dick King-Smith books and is now on to Michael Morpurgo, so maybe, just maybe, those early sessions in the library paid off.
What’s Your Passion?
Apart from writing and my family, I’d say it’s got to be travel. It doesn’t matter if it’s the UK or 
overseas, but I’m not happy unless I’ve got at least three trips booked to look forward to. I’ve just spent two weeks in the Welsh mountains and we’re off to Holland in June, and Spain the month after that. Apart from England, America and Scotland are my favourite places to visit. Probably the most exotic place I’ve been is the Venezuelan jungle, where we went piranha fishing and had to wear socks on our hands at night to keep the bugs at bay! That particular setting is bound to feature in a novel one of these days.
Learning
This is a tricky one… As a university lecturer, I am usually a complete advocate of learning. However,
I am currently half way through a Masters degree and finding the workload hard going, combined with work, writing and family life. However, it’s worth it to wear the hat at the end of it all, that’s what I tell myself. When I got my first degree, my friend and I kept our caps and gowns all day, just so we could prance around Canterbury dressed like that. Back then, my hair was black and I was into makeup that was far too pale for my olive complexion, so I looked not unlike Alan Rickman as Professor Snape!
Writing
I love writing. I sometimes don’t enjoy all the stuff that goes with it, particularly the marketing side of
things that come with being a published writer. However, there’s nothing better than creating a universe of your own to escape to. You can go anywhere in the world, try out any job and spend hours on Pinterest just dreaming about who your next hero’s going to be… bliss!
Well, that’s me! Thanks again to Liv Thomas for nominating me. I’ve enjoyed writing my Lovely Blog Hop.
Below are the links to two blogs from writers I know you’ll find interesting and, who, as fellow Write Romantics, I can’t wait to read more about:
Sharon Booth will be posting her blog on Friday 1st May.
Jessica Redland will be posting her blog on Wednesday 6th May.
thewriteromantics 
