Books

Entering a writing competition is exciting. With a whole host of competitions offering prizes from money to representation with an agent to publication, winning can be a great way to ...

1) In 2019 I got engaged on a remote Scottish island, and the setting inspired my new book I’ve always been fascinated by small islands. I love the sea so ...

-  Holly West Dorset, February 2018 ...

1. Books, biscuits, and Beethoven: my writing environment. Sneak into my study while I’m writing and you’ll be bombarded by Beethoven (or Bach, Mozart, Debussy) before being offered a biscuit ...

When I was young, I didn’t know what career path I wanted to pursue. I left school, ambled through life, fell upon a job in the UK Civil Service, and ...

I wrote my first novel in a shed – very Virginia Woolf I know! It was freezing and mildewed and invariably full of dead creatures but the only place I ...

I am a different writer from the one I was before lockdown. I’m a different person honestly. Lockdown and the pandemic changed everything. Like a lot of people, I spent ...

Instead of getting stuck in feelings of loneliness, look for ways to make time on your own easier. Human beings are social beings; we need to interact with others, to ...

Our mothers should be the source of comfort and support, our soft place to fall. But all too often, mothers are toxic and abusive. And one vile form of abuse, ...

It was as fifty-three came knocking when I reflected on the fact that it was only a mere blink ago I had turned sixteen! And sixteen was significant. I could ...

I have Bipolar Disorder Type II, and it took me 20 years to figure this out. When I finally got to see a psychiatrist she said ‘I know you think ...

1. Magpie Cove is a fictional village on the north coast of Cornwall, down the way a bit from St Ives - it's a lot smaller and less touristy than ...

Acclaimed international photographer Waleed Shah’s intimate and revealing portraits are credited with kick starting a major mental health and body positivity movement in the Middle East. His series of portraits ...

Did you try that game couples played this past year while working from home and driving each other crazy? My husband and I did. It went something like this. Holding ...

My book How to Mars was inspired by the crazy (and quite possibly fraudulent) Mars One project, which promised to send a couple dozen people on a one-way trip to ...

My Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series features a no-nonsense, kick-ass amateur sleuth who doesn’t like being told what she should or shouldn’t do as a woman. Trouble is, she lives ...

This week is Mental Health Awareness week in the UK… and whilst I love the fact we are shining a light on mental health, I truly do believe every day ...

As a child I was told to believe everything my teachers said about religion. As an adult I wanted proof. I did NOT believe in spiritualists or spiritualism. All nonsense. ...

When you become a mum, all your thinking and being goes into your children. They become the centre of your world and you pour your heart and soul into them. ...