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That moment when you open the local paper and you're staring right back at yourself. 
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The descriptions, the dialogue, the close attention to the crumbling inner life of a woman at her lowest point; all are present in force in this moving, heartbreaking tale about the maternal strength necessary to save, and reclaim, a child. A dark, gripping novel that kept me reading late into the night. A tense and compelling read. A heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, anger-inducing, and painfully moving novel that resonates far beyond the final page. You’ll really feel for the main character who has all the odds stacked against her. It’s so unfair. Domestic abuse is a scourge on society and Gracie’s story is universal. Each one of us knows a Gracie.
 Here it is. My latest baby! Grace & Serenity will be published in July 2020. You can find out more about it on the Vine Leaves Press website and mark it To Read on Goodreads. Pre-ordering links etc will be added to the Grace & Serenity page on this site when they are available. Musings on coronavirus
How quickly life can change. Last weekend, I was eating lunch with family, and now I'm in self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms. All the things we take for granted have been suddenly stripped away from us - family gatherings, sport fixtures, evenings out, a quick coffee with a friend, a gym session. It's both comforting and overwhelming that the entire world is under these same conditions. I don't have to explain what's happening to someone in the US or Greece or Budapest, because they're experiencing it for themselves. I haven't got my head around it at all. In a way, being ill has helped because I haven't wanted to go out, but my complete isolation will end on Friday, and after that I'll be navigating social distancing instead. When I was younger, I wanted to be a recluse. I may have mentioned it before, if you catch up with me on social media. But I now know I would be really bad at it! I need people, I need conversation with random people in the street. I need hugs. As it stands at the moment, the launch of Grace & Serenity is still on schedule, but the signings I was planning to organise have been stalled. The places I wanted to approach are all closed, for one thing! So far, this week:
What are you doing with all this extra time? Whatever it is, I hope you're staying safe, following the guidelines for whichever country you're in, and that we all come out of this stronger, calmer, and more peaceful. This might be the reset we need x Yep, only 20 weeks until Grace & Serenity is out in the world. The manuscript is currently with the copy-editor, and I'm starting to work on a new book - something I've had hanging around for the last year which had to be set aside when all the work on Grace started. Obviously, with a book due out and another in the early stages, I've got plenty of time on my hands 😉, So it was serendipitous that an email plonked itself into my in-box last week from Crisis, a charity which aims to end homelessness here in the UK. They were advertising their latest fundraising event, and I signed up. I will be walking 620,000 steps during March! It seemed like a good solid number, until I started telling friends and they looked upon me with horror. But I think I can do it. I walk a lot, because I don't drive, so I chose a number that would be an actual challenge. Plus, I work in a gym, so if I'm struggling, I can walk on the treadmill or simply round in circles. A friend sent me this article about how walking helps you think, so it might even aid me in the writing of the next book!
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