More years ago than I care to remember my parents asked me what I wanted to do when I left school. I hadn't a clue.  My dad resolved the problem by coming home one evening and told me that he had enrolled me at Commercial Training College. Yes, okay, that went down like a lead balloon, but no amount of kicking and screaming could change the fact that I was going.

It was in fact at college that I first dabbled in writing. Just some short fictional episodes for “Bonanza.” I loved westerns and anything to do with horses. Somewhere over the next few years I managed to persuade my parents to let me buy a horse, which I looked after myself at a local stable. Then a few years later came the inevitable decision between relationships and horses. Looking back now, I should have kept the horse. 

Life however tends to balance the knocks with a pick me up, and that came in the shape of Mr Right (Mr R). Once settled into married life on the Yorkshire Coast I introduced him to the wonders of Canada. That was many years ago but since then we have visited Canada regularly. Now I tell everyone that I have two homes, my head home, here where I live and my heart home, Canada. With relatives and friends out there it is like going home every time we visit.

Then in early 2012 I was reading a short story in a magazine and thought, I can do that, so I sat at the laptop and started to write. The short story turned into a 93,000plus word manuscript. I sent it off to a publisher, not having a clue what to expect, it was rejected, something that I now realise writers have to get used to.

So how did I get from there to here? In May 2012 I saw someone doing a book signing in one of the local shops. She was a local author of many published books. She gave me advice, and we kept in touch via email. It was she who introduced me to her Romantic Novelists Group and that led me to the Romantic Novelists Association and ultimately to their New Writers Scheme. The Scheme told me that I could actually write and then came the news that all would be writers want to hear, I got a publishing contract. As a result of that I was able to become a full member of The Romantic Novelists Association (RNA).

I write contemporary romance, mainly set in Canada but also write historical romance set in London in the early 1800’s. I do go beyond the bedroom door, so if you are of a nervous disposition you may wish to sit down before you start to read!!

So that is me and the short tale of how I got to where I am today. Of course I did work and that was within the law and I spent quite a good part of my working life dealing with Personal Injury claims on behalf of claimants. A worthwhile job? I like to think so, but as with everything else things change and not always for the better.

Now retired I am able to write whenever I want and can start up the computer and take my characters wherever I wish. Readers may possibly think that storylines are taken from life events, and in some cases this is true, but a lot of what is written comes from the writer’s imagination. And when that imagination is working it can happen in the most unusual places, walking along the beach, in the shower or just as you are about to go to sleep. One thing I have learned is to keep is a notebook to hand for those times when I am not at home and within reach of the keyboard.

Click here for Romantic Novelists Association (RNA)