My full time job is as Publicity and Social media Manager for publisher Bookouture. It is the best job in the world and I get to work with the most talented head office staff and also to shout as loud and proud as possible about our books for the incredibly gifted and talented authors who wrote them.
Amazing Grace
When I was a little girl I wanted to work for a book publisher. I thought that I would get to sit in a corner office with stunning floor to ceiling windows overlooking London, reading books all day. Bookouture’s head office actually does look just like that but I work from home in my kitchen and definitely don’t sit reading all day.
Also when I was a little girl I wanted to go to boarding school because I used to read The Naughtiest Girl books by Enid Blyton and I loved that whenever Elizabeth Allen went back to school, she was always sent a huge chest full of snacks and stuff. I was also fascinated that she played Lacrosse!
I run a fantastic book club called Bookworms United. I have made the most wonderful friends through sharing our love of books. We don’t pick a book of the month, but we share all the books that we’ve read since the last meet up and I’m sure Amazon must have a big sales spike on the night of our book club because our phones are always red hot!
Milly Johnson is the person who is responsible for me being in the book world. I read her wonderful book A Spring Affair and it really resonated with me. Her book suggested that readers contact her, and so I emailed her and we chatted. I told her my idea about a book blog and she encouraged me every step of the way, even telling some of her writer friends about my blog. I owe it all to Milly and will be eternally grateful for her wisdom, her kindness and her amazing books.
I am a Reiki Level I Practitioner, but very rarely use it unless it’s on me, my son and our dog. I’m also trained to do Hopi Ear Candles and Indian Head Massage too. I think at one point I wanted to do holistic therapy as a career but then got involved in publishing instead. I have a University Diploma in Pyschotherapeutics and Counselling. Again, this is something that I wanted to do as a career but then life got in the way. I remember that when I had to video a “dummy” session, my sister was my client, but we had to record it about 20 times because we couldn’t stop laughing! My friends think it’s hilarious that I have this as they don’t think I’m very sympathetic! How rude!
I believe very strongly in life after death. In Amazing Grace, Grace’s Mum has died but she is still around her all the time. My Mum died 12 years ago and I wish she were here today to see my first book being published. My main regret in life is that Mum died a year before my awesome son was born and that she never got to meet him. However, I have visited a medium many times, just like Grace does in the book and have had the most incredible experiences through her gift.
Last year, I became a Dog Mum! We’ve had dogs before at home with my parents when I was a child and me and my sister promised Mum that we’d look after it and take it out all the time and then didn’t! Sorry Mum! And I adore my sister’s two gorgeous Collie’s so after lots of deliberating, and seeing Roni on the Foreign Furries facebook page, we went to meet him, fell in love with him and he very quickly joined our family. He’s like a whirlwind in our lives, leaves muddy footprints everywhere, is a constant shadow (I do fear that I may never be able to visit the toilet on my own ever again) but I never realised the total and unconditional love I would have for my fur baby! Ollie and I really enjoy our walks with him over Cannock Chase and are loving that it’s now spring and that the weather will hopefully be getting better!
I’m a huge fan of Shonda Rhimes. I LOVE anything that she writes or produces. Totally LOVE Grey’s Anatomy, which I discovered when I watched Private Practice. The main thing I have learnt from her is how to power pose! Also love Scandal, The Catch and Station 19. One of my most favourite books EVER is herYear of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person - soooo incredibly inspirational and her speeches are incredible. She is one person I would absolutely LOVE to meet. Maybe one day she’ll visit Cannock and she can come and have a cuppa or I could take her to the gin bar!
Talking of gin, gin is my tipple of choice. I’m not a raging gin swilling old lush, although my social media posts may make people think that, but I do partake in the odd one here and there. My favourite memory EVER is sitting on the swingy bench in my Mom and Dad’s garden, drinking gin and putting the world to rights with my beautiful Mom. Precious memories!