It's a family business, and everything is done by hand - from filling the moulds for the bars to sprinkling on the different toppings. It's fascinating to watch the small number of employees - only three when I was there - knowing how far and wide their product is sold.

​Photos: my Bakewell Tart Brownie and huge vats of chocolate. I could have watched that chocolate swirling around all day!

​After a flurry of excitement over the past couple of days, I'm finally settled - and coherent - enough to share my latest news...

My novel, Grace and Serenity, is going to be published in July 2020 by Vine Leaves Press!

This is me signing the actual contract!! I look a lot more calm and composed than I felt.

Vine Leaves published my short story collection, You. I. Us., and I'm delighted to be working with them again - and especially to acquire another of Jessica Bell's amazing covers.

If you want to keep updated on the book's progress, use the box at the top right of this page to sign up for my newsletter - I'll be sharing snippets from the book, offering early review copies, and having a celebratory giveaway in the near future (chocolate, it'll be chocolate 😋) The next newsletter will be out on the 12th August.

Ever since I put my blog in hiatus (this is not my blog, my blog has a link on the bar above, but it's on hiatus so there's no point clicking on it😁 ), I've felt a bit adrift from the writing community, from all my wonderful writer friends who are releasing books and doing other wonderful things. I'm feeling unconnected.

However, I'm heavily editing a novel, going on fantastic day trips with a friend and discovering the amazing towns we can get to via train, baking(ish), and reading. All of these things were getting a little lost in my attempts to keep up with the blogs I was following - I still read them from time to time, but I don't engage as much as I used to.

At the moment, I have no idea how to balance blogging again, or even if I want to - and I'm slowly coming to the conclusion there's no point to this update at all!

So, here's a small sample of what I've been doing recently x

I'm definitely doing a happy dance right now! My novel Small Forgotten Moments has placed 2nd in the inaugural Retreat West Novel Prize. My prize is a full critique, and I can't wait to read it. Click here to read the official announcement.

Congratulations to Nick Petty and Rachel Rivett for their 1st and 3rd places.

Many thanks to Amanda Saint for spending most of the winter reading and re-reading the eight shortlisted novels. If you have a novel hanging around, this year's competition will open soon.

​My story The Fear of Ghosts, which won first prize on the Dark Tales site a couple of years ago, has been included in this anthology of past winners.

Click here or on the cover for more details.