So, what on earth made me into a writer?
No idea - especially as I took a science degree!
I was born (after my Mum had a series of miscarriages - see my stories in Some Girls' Mothers) with the aid of an experimental drug (since banned). This unfortunately wrecked my immune system, but, although I do get a bit fed up with the various disabilities this has thrown at me, I do realise it's all terribly character-building! ...as was growing up in the 1960s and '70s in the very-depressed industrial belt of Central Scotland. Oh joy!
Since then I've worked in everything from a brussel-sprout cutting shed to disability politics to Opera North, and have been a freelance writer for the last 25 years. I adore sea-kayaking and mashed potato, and now live very happily in the Yorkshire Pennines. I also spend a fair amount of time up in North West Scotland where my Mum lives - so clearly I have an affinity with rain.
I did my apprenticeship as a writer in the lesbian writing and performance group The Outlanders. We met every week for over 7 years in Manchester and constantly wrote new material - poetry, sketches, monologues, fiction, and even a bit of stand-up - and tried it out at our very regular performances all over Britain. This was a fantastic grounding in writing, receiving crit from other writers, and getting direct feedback from very lively audiences - and it forced me to constantly generate new work. I can recommend this type of apprenticeship to any budding writers out there - gruelling, but lots of fun.
From The Outlanders, I set up my own theatre company and toured with this, and, after a couple of years, got into writing for radio through a lucky break - the Head of BBC Radio Drama came to see one of my stage plays at West Yorkshire Playhouse and asked me if I could do a radio version. People Come Here To Cry has since been broadcast - to consistent acclaim - numerous times by the BBC. I've since had five more BBC Radio 4 plays broadcast.
So, I started out in poetry and short fiction, moved into writing for the stage, then radio, tried my hand (and won a couple of awards) at telly and screenwriting, and, am currently ploughing on with my first novel. I love it and hate it by turns. You can read several chapters of it - as stand-alone short stories - in my collection 'Something Vital Fell Through'.
In 2011, I was head-hunted by the wonderful Ronnie Goodyer at Indigo Dreams Publishing - an independent publisher. He has been an absolute dream to work with, and has published my latest two poetry collections: 'The Thousand Natural Shocks', and 'The Cloud Appreciation Society's Day Out'. And my first short story collection 'Something Vital Fell Through'.
I also tutor and lecture in creative writing - working with age groups as wide as 4-year-olds to 98-year-olds. I love this work - helping budding writers learn the art and craft (and hard graft!) of writing. It gives me a real buzz when I see my students' skills and confidence really start to develop, and when their own writing 'voice' comes out to play.
I was born (after my Mum had a series of miscarriages - see my stories in Some Girls' Mothers) with the aid of an experimental drug (since banned). This unfortunately wrecked my immune system, but, although I do get a bit fed up with the various disabilities this has thrown at me, I do realise it's all terribly character-building! ...as was growing up in the 1960s and '70s in the very-depressed industrial belt of Central Scotland. Oh joy!
Since then I've worked in everything from a brussel-sprout cutting shed to disability politics to Opera North, and have been a freelance writer for the last 25 years. I adore sea-kayaking and mashed potato, and now live very happily in the Yorkshire Pennines. I also spend a fair amount of time up in North West Scotland where my Mum lives - so clearly I have an affinity with rain.
I did my apprenticeship as a writer in the lesbian writing and performance group The Outlanders. We met every week for over 7 years in Manchester and constantly wrote new material - poetry, sketches, monologues, fiction, and even a bit of stand-up - and tried it out at our very regular performances all over Britain. This was a fantastic grounding in writing, receiving crit from other writers, and getting direct feedback from very lively audiences - and it forced me to constantly generate new work. I can recommend this type of apprenticeship to any budding writers out there - gruelling, but lots of fun.
From The Outlanders, I set up my own theatre company and toured with this, and, after a couple of years, got into writing for radio through a lucky break - the Head of BBC Radio Drama came to see one of my stage plays at West Yorkshire Playhouse and asked me if I could do a radio version. People Come Here To Cry has since been broadcast - to consistent acclaim - numerous times by the BBC. I've since had five more BBC Radio 4 plays broadcast.
So, I started out in poetry and short fiction, moved into writing for the stage, then radio, tried my hand (and won a couple of awards) at telly and screenwriting, and, am currently ploughing on with my first novel. I love it and hate it by turns. You can read several chapters of it - as stand-alone short stories - in my collection 'Something Vital Fell Through'.
In 2011, I was head-hunted by the wonderful Ronnie Goodyer at Indigo Dreams Publishing - an independent publisher. He has been an absolute dream to work with, and has published my latest two poetry collections: 'The Thousand Natural Shocks', and 'The Cloud Appreciation Society's Day Out'. And my first short story collection 'Something Vital Fell Through'.
I also tutor and lecture in creative writing - working with age groups as wide as 4-year-olds to 98-year-olds. I love this work - helping budding writers learn the art and craft (and hard graft!) of writing. It gives me a real buzz when I see my students' skills and confidence really start to develop, and when their own writing 'voice' comes out to play.
