Even The Best Can Get Better

There is a sign on State Highway 2 near where I live in New Zealand aimed at motorcyclists. It says: “Even the best can get better.” Each time I drive past it, it makes me smile, because it speaks to me not as a motorcycle owner, but as an artist and writer, passionate about what […]

Child of the Sea

I’m a water baby, I’ve known that forever. I grew up by the North Sea and I swam in it quite regularly even though it’s bastard cold and murky grey and you’d be well advised not to swallow even a drop of it. The worst part of wearing hearing aids for me is having to […]

Future Imperfect

* < 400 word Flash fiction written for Dion’s Flashes of Inspiration at The Fine Toothed Comb. Inspired in part by the last message from the Mars Rover. Where were you when the red rains came? When the first flames rippled through the forests, with hot, bright fingers of pain. Did you turn to watch […]

Busy Bee, Busy Being Me

These past few weeks have been extraordinarily busy. I’ve spent a lot of time hunched, (apologies to my physiotherapist,) over my keyboard and churning out a steady stream of short stories. I’ve sent out six submissions in two weeks and I’m currently working on two more. I know these massive spurts of inspiration are likely […]

Finding My Way Back

My regular readers and followers will know that I frequently write for mental health. I’m also aware that this often turns people off too. “Oh great, she’s going on about depression again.” “Why does she always focus on the serious stuff?” “She must be pretty unstable if she has to keep focusing on all that.” […]

Being a Wild Woman

Cross-posting from my sister blog “Well-Written”, which is also a huge part of my writing identity, I talk a little bit about conquering one of my biggest fears – speaking in public and in front of my peers – to lead a brand new writing workshop in Wellington. https://wellwrittennz.wordpress.com/2019/05/13/being-a-wild-woman/

Some Notes On Self-Publishing Ebooks

I recently ran a writing group in my adoptive home-town of Wellington which focused on self-publishing. The following are my notes from my presentation where I spoke about my experiences self-publishing my ebook. A little bit about me I moved to Wellington in 2017 from Leicester in the UK. I’ve always enjoyed writing, and before […]

Well-Written – Writing for Wellness

I run an online blog and support group called Well-Written; a writing group which encourages women to write for positive mental health. We share our ideas and creativity, and we listen to what we all have to say. It is aimed at being an empowering and nurturing space not just to write about mental health […]

Zine Culture

I made my very first zine this weekend. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, and no plan. I decided that instead of trying to make it nice and pretty, I would use it as a creative brain-dump. So I cut random images from magazines (I didn’t even cut them neatly!); added a […]

Slowing Down and Changing Gears.

I’m tired. I don’t want to admit it, but I am. I promised myself last year to pay more attention to my ‘give-a-fuck’-budget, and by that I meant that I needed to consider whether something was really worth my time, my energy or my money. I also said that if an event I was invited […]