Writing for me is all about escapism. It always has been. I remember writing my first ever ‘story’ at school when I was about eight years of age and reading it out to my classmates. It was a tale of a hapless soul stranded on a desert island trying to survive and filled an entire exercise book from cover-to-cover. I was beyond proud when I saw the smiling faces of my classmates as I unravelled my saga.
That must have given me the bug as when I shuffled into the careers master’s office at grammar school a few years later to decide on a career path there was only ever one choice for me (having already discarded my pre-teen dreams of being a vet after watching one too many gory episodes of All Creatures Great And Small) – I wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to tell stories, inform people what was going on in the world and interview people about what it was like to be a star – whether it be a celeb off the telly or a local hero who had rescued someone’s lost pussy cat. At first my request was met with an air of confusion. I can still remember my careers master asking me if maybe engineering or ‘something in finance’ might be a better option. Seeing as I still don’t understand the workings of a motor engine or know how to do spend less than I earn I think he may have been barking up the wrong job tree.
No, it had to be writing. It was seemingly in my blood. My mum was the editor of the local hospital magazine and I could see how happy it made her seeing her words typed out in black and white, and I wanted the same. So, despite the best endeavours and advice of Mr Smith the careers man, I took it upon myself to organise work experience at my local newspaper, The Citizen in Gloucester. It popped through the letter boxes of the county on a nightly basis and I craved to see my name in it. So that’s what I did. My first experience of a journalism job was sitting, fresher than the morning dew and greener than the grass it collected on, in the frenzied offices of the Gloucester Citizen. I was only there a week but I helped collate info and write reports on local fayres and fetes and charity meetings and I loved it. I don’t think I ever managed my first by-line during that first week but the writing bug had well and truly wormed its way into my heart. From then on in there was to be no stopping me.
Post school I became a student of Journalism & Business Studies at the London College Of Printing. This was late 80s, so learning shorthand, feature layout by hand (using scissors and rulers) and working your fingers on a typewriter were the order of the day. But I was in London, the media hub,living out my dream. This is where magazines had their offices and again it was all about gaining some experience. Which was what I did. Having begged for a week’s worth of unpaid work experience at Look in! Magazine (the Junior TV Times) I pestered my way into my first job. Before I knew it I was interviewing TV, pop, film and sports stars and seeing my name alongside the copy. I still have a photocopy of my first ever cheque for an article. I will cherish it for forever.
Fast forward a few decades and here we are in the noughties. Life has taken me on the most amazing journey and I am eternally grateful for it. My journalism has seen me writing for lots of different publications with eclectic jobs as varied as Editor of the official East 17 Magazine, Uncensored (dealing with Brian Harvey was always a challenge – a happy one – but a challenge!) and editing a free gay newspaper (choosing those model pics always proved to be a great way to start the week) but for the last few years, whilst I have been popping up on TV channels doing ‘the presentation thing’ – a job I adore – I always had a huge desire to write. But this time round it was actually to write a full-blown story. One with twists and turns and all sorts of devilish surprises along the way. To create a novel.
When I first sat down to write TRINITY, my first blockbuster, it was 2008. My TV work was keeping me very occupied on my studio days but on my days away from TV Land I wanted to keep my mind ticking over and keep those creative juices flowing. Which is why I sketched out a rough storyline for a trio of young women who all had to deal with what life dared to throw at them. By the end of that first few hours tapping away on my PC I had created a trio of good friends – the actress Evie Merchant, the gossip columnist Anoushka Silvers and the wild child Regan Phoenix. I had also pretty much decided on the tapestry of intrigue, murder, family, mystery, bitchery, double-dealing, love, sex and jealousies that would ricochet between them all, threatening to destroy their friendship. Suddenly I was hooked. For the next six months I spent every day off diving into this imaginary, escapist world I’d given birth to. The characters and those around them became my babies, my puppets to breathe life into. It was, and still is, a process I have adored with all of my books.
People ask me why I decided on writing blockbusters (some call it a ‘bonkbuster’ because of the sauciness of some of the action). The answer to that is simple. I have always loved them. I can’t remember a time when I haven’t had a Jackie Collins or a Sheldon or a Conran to hand. Their tales were ground-breaking and took me to places I had only ever dreamt of going. The glamour of back-combed hair, shoulder pads wide enough to straddle time zones and a tongue sharper than Robin Hood’s arrows have always captivated me and these stories provided it by the jeroboam-full. Dynasty, The Colbys, Mistral’s Daughter, Lace, Dallas, Melrose Place, The Stud…. they were my TV and literary delights. They still are. Didn’t we all relish the bite with which Phoebe Cates’ character Lili walked onto the screen and said ‘which one of you bitches is my mother?’ in the TV adaptation of Lace. Strong females with strong storylines. It was the dawning of a new age – one where women rightly had their say.
I adore writing and will continue as long as I can. The fact that I now have a few books under my literary belt amazes me and I am loving every one of them! One thing is for sure, as long as I have a story to tell and somebody likes reading them, then I shall keep them coming…. I hope you can join me.
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