About

I’ve always believed in the power of true stories and lived experience. I grew up above my parents’ fish and chip shop, dreaming of my escape to university, an experience that inspired my first book, Eat Drink and Be Married. I later gave up a perfectly good job as a journalist to pursue my ambition of writing full time, which led to four more books: Land of the Golden Apple, The Mother-in-Law, and The Spice Box Letters.

 

In between writing books, I raised two amazing children and co-wrote an adaptation of my third book, which became the award-winning feature film Boy on the Bridge.

 

Everything I do revolves around writing (usually with a dog in my lap) and taking writing out into the community. In 2019, I co-authored the life-writing guide The Accidental Memoir, published by Harper Collins, and have since run dozens of writing workshops in a diverse range of settings.

 

I’m co-creator of The Minute Memoir, a free website funded by Arts Council England, packed with resources to help people write about their lives in short, manageable bursts. When I’m not writing, I help others work on their craft as fiction tutor on the MA Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University.

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Through the ups and downs of life (with the most positive man I know by my side) there has always been writing to help me make sense of things.