Interview with Author Genevieve Petrillo and Cupcake the Blogging Dog

Genevieve Petrillo is a wonderful and inspirational friend who I met in the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge. She recently turned 60 and has an adorable 5 year old dog named Cupcake. Genevieve is not the only writer in her home as her dog Cupcake writes for her own blog. We are fortunate today as, not only has Genevieve kindly agreed to answer our interview questions, but her sweet little dog Cupcake is also taking part in this interview.

Tell us a little about yourselves.

Genevieve:  
I was born, grew up, played and worked within the same few towns in northern New Jersey.  I was an elementary school teacher for 34 years.  I LOVED being a teacher, and feel very blessed to have spent my days working and playing with kids and actually getting paid for it!  Being around children day in and day out was inspirational!


Since I retired, I keep busy supervising student teachers for Bloomfield College, reading books on tape with Ocean County Volunteers for the Blind, and as part of a therapy dog team with TheraPet.

Cupcake:
I lived all over the place till Mom found me and brought me to our forever home.


When Mom brings me to the Veterans Home, I make disabled veterans smile and remember happy times.  I cuddle and snuggle and get treats. We also work at the public library where kids read stories to me, and I cuddle and snuggle and get treats.

Do you use a pen name? 


Genevieve: No pen name for me! I waited WAY too long to see my name - on a book - on a shelf - in the library – at the bookstore.  

Cupcake:
Before I was rescued, my name was Ka-Ka.  Mom named me Cupcake because I’m so sweet.

Do you have any writing accomplishments to share with us? 


Genevieve:
My first (and hopefully not last) picture book, Keep Your Ear on the Ball (Tilbury, 2007), earned a Moonbeam Award and recently became part of the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Disabled Young People.  It’s the story of Davey, a blind 3^rd grader, and his sighted classmates, learning an important lesson about interdependence.  The story is based on the year I spent in a sighted classroom learning from David DeNotaris, a blind boy who changed my “view” of life, teaching, accomplishment, and acceptance. There’s a link to his website on my website.

Cupcake: Mom wrote a story about ME, and I’m hoping it gets published so I can go along on Author Visits.  Then I won’t have to look out the window all day.


Genevieve:
My stories, poetry, teaching ideas, kiddie recipes, and craft activities have been published in lots of children’s and teachers’ magazines, including: Spider, Highlights, Ladybug, Turtle, Creative Classroom, and Instructor.  One of my poems appeared on the NJ ASK, standardized test, and I recently sold a poem to the publishers of an English language textbook in Belgium!

Cupcake:
Once I ate a piece of ham.

What type of writing do you do? What genre do you write in? 


Genevieve: I consider myself a poet and picture book author.  I am not at all snobbish about submitting my stories to magazines.  Would I rather see them as picture books?  Of course! Is it exciting and thrilling to be in a magazine, knowing thousands of kids are reading my words? OF COURSE! 


Cupcake: I don’t know how to write, but once I chewed a pen and some colored pencils. Mom helps me write my blog where I tell about my life as the pet of a children’s author.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it?

Genevieve: I was always a pencil and paper kid, “making books” every time I found a piece of scrap paper around the house.  As a teenager, I created countless unfinished “novels” filled with teen angst. It was in college that I started thinking I’d really be able to be a published writer.  When I was teaching, the ideas were EVERYWHERE, but I only wrote in the summer, because teaching is a full-time job and 65 part-time jobs combined.


Cupcake: One night, I typed QQQQQQQ when I fell asleep with my ear on Mom’s iPad.)

What books/authors have influenced your writing?


Genevieve: I can’t say there are books/authors that have inspired me – well, OK – Judy Blume, Dr. Seuss, Cynthia Lord, Treasure Island, The Wizard of Oz.....but it was really my 5^th grade teacher Mrs. Nelson who read stories to us every single day right before the bell rang, and always left us wanting more.  In 5^th grade we were certainly too-cool-for-school, but Mrs. Nelson immersed us, pulled us in, and made us love words, stories, language, learning, listening, and imagining.  It’s why I became a teacher, and it’s why I became a writer.  I wanted to make kids feel the way she made us feel.


Cupcake: My favorite stories have dogs in them.  My least favorite story is The Cat in the Hat.  I don’t like cats and I don’t like hats.

What are your current writing projects?


Genevieve: I’m always working on multiple projects.  Right now, I’m part of 12x12in’12, so I am creating a new picture book manuscript each month, which is easy to say in February.  Check back with me in October, when I may or may not have lost my mind.

Cupcake: I’m learning to fetch. Apparently, there’s something about bringing the ball BACK involved.  I don’t get that “coming back” part.)

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?


Genevieve: I don’t feel writer’s block.  I actually set a timer and write for exactly an hour a day. I stop writing after an hour, even if I’m in the middle of a word.  This ensures that I will know what I’m doing when I sit down to write the next day.  I also work on many projects at once, so if one story turns to a rock, I work on something else.


Cupcake: I am afraid of soccer players.  When I see them playing in the field by my house, Mom has to carry me because I turn to a statue and forget how to walk.)

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?


Genevieve: The most challenging thing about writing is getting the work to the right place at the right time, and having somebody say, “We LOVE your work and we want to buy it!”


Cupcake:
I was in the right place at the right time when Mom adopted me.  I was smaller than she wanted and older than she wanted, but it was love at first sight. She said, “I LOVE her! This is my new dog!”)

What do you love most about writing?


Genevieve: I love visiting schools to read my book and talk about being a writer.


Cupcake: Mom also loves going to “work” in her pajamas!

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer?  

Genevieve: I used to think that after 100 rejections I’d give up the idea of being published.  I’m well past the 100 mark, and I’m still going strong.  I guess I’m more determined (relentless) than I thought I was.

Cupcake: I love wearing cute dresses.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?)


Genevieve: I’d like to be Chrissy from my story Chrissy’s Terrific Sneakers.  She’s an imaginative little girl who uses her old, outgrown sneakers for everything from a hermit crab cave to a tree house elevator to a water dish for her kitten.  I like how she thinks out of the box, and what writer wouldn’t want to be overflowing with ideas!?


Cupcake:
I am already a character in one of Mom’s stories! Cupcake Learns is about how I went from being naughty to being a good girl and a therapy pet.

Do you have any advice for other writers?


Genevieve: I would tell writers to say YES to everything.  Say yes to ideas that you don’t think will develop.  Say yes to submitting to unlikely places, like online poetry sites, and small magazines.  Say yes to entering contests. And say yes to invitations, which are marketing opportunities.


Cupcake: I would tell writers to always have a dog in every story they write.

***********

Please thank Genevieve and Cupcake for sharing a part of their writing journeys with us by leaving a comment below.

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Interview with Author Beth Stilborn

I met Beth Stilborn in the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge. She is incredibly helpful to other authors and she's full of great ideas. She agreed to do an interview here so I could share a bit about her and her writing journey with you all.



Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm 55 and I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies, and still live on the prairies, although I have lived in a city for most of my adult life. I worked in a university library, in the acquisitions department, for over twenty years – that made use of a skill I’ve honed throughout my life, buying books. My love of the arts is evident in much of my writing. It’s a love that began when I was a small child, listening to my mother sing. My love of pretending has grown into a love of the craft of acting (although I haven’t done as much acting as I would like to do) as well as the craft of writing. My website/blog can be found at BethStilborn.com. Its predecessor now serves as an archive. I also have a writer page on Facebook and cna be found on Twitter.

Do you use a pen name? Why or why not?

I plan to publish my children’s books using my “everyday” name, Beth Stilborn. After a brief flirtation with using my full name in what I thought was a creative way, Elizabethanne Stilborn, I decided that was simply too long and cumbersome, so I reverted to “Beth”. I have hymn texts that have already been published using my name as Elizabeth Stilborn, so I will retain that for any future hymns I publish. I intend to use a pen name based on my great-grandmother’s maiden name, Liv Andrews, for my adult fiction. I want to use different names for the different genres to keep each genre/age group/target audience separate.

What type of writing do you do? What genre do you write in?
I write picture books, middle grade novels, adult fiction, poetry, and hymn texts. Much of my fiction has a linkage to the arts in some way. My hymn texts (and some of my fiction) usually incorporate some sort of call to justice.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it?

I love stories. I’ve made up stories for as long as I can remember, although they weren’t always written down. Writing, like acting, is a socially acceptable way for an adult to pretend! I did some writing as a teen, including one hymn text that was published when I was 15 or 16, and dabbled a bit from time to time in picture books and other genres during my twenties. I really began writing about seventeen or eighteen years ago, but didn’t have the time to devote to it, nor did I have the training to make the most of it (and I was far too insecure at that point to join any sort of writing group or take courses in creative writing – that came much later).

Two moments in my life are like signposts on my journey, and they stand out in my memory to this day. In one university class, I used to see my classmates’ papers returned with hardly a note on them, while mine were always marked thoroughly with red pen lines, marks, questions. I wondered why the prof was always “picking on me.” Until the last paper he handed back to me. It had no marks on it whatsoever, just a good grade, and the words “Keep writing.” Ah. That’s what the corrections and feedback had been about. Also, one night in the mid 1990s my mother said to me in a phone conversation, “Why don’t you write?” I started a story that night, and I’ve been writing one thing or another ever since.

Where do you get your ideas for your writing?

My childhood, things I see around me, things I wish had been available for me to read when I was a kid, things I hear children say – I get ideas from all kinds of sources. Ideas are everywhere, if you’re sensitive to them.

What books/authors have influenced your writing?

I can’t specifically point to books and authors I’ve read that have influenced my writing (although there are many that have influenced my life). What has influenced my writing most has been my association with children’s author and editor, Emma Walton Hamilton. I learned a great deal from taking her online/home study picture book writing course “Just Write for Kids” and I have continued to learn through her monthly teleseminars for her writers’ group, the Children’s Book Hub. Her manuscript evaluations of some of my work have been invaluable. Emma and I now collaborate as co-administrators of the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group, and that, too has been a great learning experience and has broadened the scope of my reading (as I look for content that will interest Hub members). That can only have a positive effect on my writing. (Any writer or illustrator, aspiring or established, who is interested in joining the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group can request membership.)

What are your current writing projects?

Without going into specifics, because I don’t like sharing specifics of pre-published projects, I have a picture book that’s submission-ready, another one that’s being evaluated by a freelance editor (this is a second evaluation for this manuscript, I like to get her to look at it after I’ve reworked it after her first comments), three that will soon be ready for manuscript evaluation, and several ideas in the works. I’m working on a middle grade novel – the first draft is done (although the first draft has been through about three different iterations, so I’m not sure it’s really a “first” draft) and I’m working on the revision process. I’m revisiting an adult novel that I thought was finished, but may need some reworking, and I want to get back to another adult novel that has been novel, then screenplay, then novel again. It holds a particular place in my heart, and I want to get at it again.

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?

I’m constantly amazed at how the ideas just flow when I sit down to write, so my problem isn’t really writer’s block, it’s more writer’s procrastination. I’m trying to be disciplined about my writing – this is my job, and I need to treat it as such.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Creating a logical plot arc is one of my major challenges – telling a story instead of just stitching together a crazy quilt of events.

What do you love most about writing?

I love losing myself in another character’s world, looking at life through someone else’s eyes. As I’ve said before, for me writing, like acting, is a socially acceptable way of pretending. When I was a child, I was always pretending to be someone else, trying to get all the character nuances just right, thinking what life would be like for that person. That’s what I love to do now, creating my characters and looking at life as they see it and live it.

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer?

I have learned that I have a lot more strength than I ever thought possible. I have learned that I have something valuable to contribute to others’ lives.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?)

Yes, I would. I’d love to be the irascible, outspoken man who is the protagonist of the adult novel/screenplay/novel project. He’s different from any other character I’ve written, crusty but with a heart of gold. He speaks his mind; he’s highly creative; he’s keenly intelligent, both in his field of work and in people-smarts. He works in a creative field, he lives surrounded by creative people. It would be so stimulating intellectually and emotionally to have his life for a little while. (It would be exhausting to be him for long, though!)

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Trust yourself. Write what you care about. Don’t be afraid. Seek feedback from people who know their stuff. Take courses. Write, write, and write some more. Join organizations such as SCBWI. Go to conferences and workshops. Network with other writers. Learn about the building blocks of story – plotting, creating characters. Take acting lessons. Learn how actors get into character, how they develop backstories for their characters. Read, read, and read some more. And, as my prof said, “Keep writing.”

Please leave Beth some comments and let her know you appreciate her taking the time to share with us a bit about her writing journey.



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A Crafty Interview with Author & llustrator Hannah Holt

Author/illustrator Hannah Holt is favoring us today with a craft and interview. She blogs about healthy kid's snacks and crafts over at her Lightbulb Books blog.

First up, the craft: DIY Oval Chalkboard

Create your own oval chalkboard for under $10.



What you'll need:

a 12” by 9” wooden board (sanded, about $4)
black acrylic or wood paint (to prime, $2)
chalkboard spray paint ($2)
a sheet of paper torn from an old over-sized book (free)
½ inch rickrack ($1)
white glue sponge brush
a plastic card a paper towel
this oval pattern (Click "download file" on bottom right.)

Step 1) Prime the wood by painting the entire surface black. Use the sponge brush to create a smooth finish. Let the paint dry.

Step 2) Spray a thin coat of chalkboard paint onto the wood. Let this coat dry and then spray at least one more coat. I recommend 3-4 thin coats. Let dry for 24 hours.

Step 3) Cut your over-sized sheet of paper to fit the board. Then download and print the oval pattern provided here and use this pattern to cut an oval out of the middle of your paper. Be sure to center the oval before you cut. Sadly the pattern is not perfectly centered within the page. My pdf writer was giving me grief today.



Step 4) Using chalk and the cut out sheet of paper, trace an oval on the center of your wooden board.

Step 5) Mix white glue with water in a 1:1 ratio. You'll need about 2 Tbl of white glue and 2 Tbl of water for this project. Paint around the outside of the circle with the diluted glue.



Step 6) Place the paper with the oval cutout over the glue and smooth with the side of the plastic card. You'll want to remove ALL the bubbles.



Step 7) Paint diluted glue over the top of the paper. Dab off excess glue with a paper towel.



Step 8) Put a stripe of undiluted glue around the interior of the oval, and press the rickrack into the glue. Let the glue dry overnight, and you're all done!

And now for the interview part of this post!



Me: Thanks Hannah! With so many kid's craft blogs out there, what made you decide to do one?

Hannah: Well, it's something I love. Also most of the crafts I post on my blog are originals. You can't find them anywhere else. Creativity provides me with a small monopoly that way.

Me: Is it true you provide all your own artwork and photography for your website?

Hannah: Yes. I think that's pretty standard stuff for artist/illustrator sites. Most creative people understand the importance of not using of someone else's material without permission.

Me: With four kids six and under, where do you find the time to make all your creations?

Hannah: We do a lot of drawing together as a family. Most days my kids and I crowd around our big kitchen table with papers and pens to compare doodlings. Just the other day my four year old asked, “Mom, would you make me a maze?” He likes it when I make activity pages because he gets to try them first.

Me: And the babies? Do they like to draw?

Hannah: No. They sit under the table and eat any papers that fall on the floor.

Me: Art scavengers?

Hannah: Exactly.

Me: When do you write your picture books?

Hannah: I haven't been as diligent about writing picture books since my twins were born last year. That's one reason I'm excited about Julie Hedlund's 12x12 challenge. The challenge is forcing me to get stories out on paper. So far the stories I've written haven't been very good. I'm hoping with enough pump priming, I'll have a few decent ideas by the end of the year.

Me: Anything else my readers should really know about you?

Hannah: I suffer from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. I have a lot of strong opinions, and I'm all too happy to share them. If I've offended anyone, please know I don't intend it as a personal attack. I love meeting new people with differing ideas. Don't worry about offending me. I have a pretty thick skull skin when it comes to taking offense.

Me: Thanks so much for answer my questions today.

Hannah: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.


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Interview with Author Jamie Rowell

I met Jamie Rowell during my region's National Novel Writing Month meet-ups and we are now both part of the same writing and critique group called Swindon Free Writers. He is 24 and is a very talented writer.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I come from a family which has been fairly creative, given that a few of my relatives were artists of one form or another, like a screenwriter, or musicians, and I did a degree in journalism at university. I also go on a forum, the Roleplaying and Fanfiction forum of GameFAQs, which is noted to be one of the best forums online for writing, as the criticism is harsh and fair. I also meld my writing with my music at times to create a unique experience for me.

Do you use a pen name? If so, why?

I don't use a pen name any more, though I have written under different aliases in the past. I think that I did so as a way of expressing myself in different ways without losing parts of the identity I had created for myself at the time, so I guess it was like shedding my old identity, putting a new one on and then shedding that one. I've stopped doing that now, because I'm fairly confident in my identity and in what I'm writing on, and having gone through my period of Old Shame, as the trope goes.

What are your writing accomplishments?

I've had some of my poetry published in a book years ago, and I've had a few newspaper articles published. I've also finished NaNoWriMo 2011, and kept a writing project on the RP/FF going for about two years nearly and it has an end in sight. Considering most RPGs on there die quickly or don't finish, I'm proud of that.

What type of writing do you do? What genre do you write in?

I tend to write fiction, and meld genres a lot. I've got a soft spot for sci-fi, though I don't tend to write that much in it any more, preferring a sort of gritty realistic fantasy setting, if that makes sense - like magic married with the modern world. I have been known to write in stereotypical fantasy before, and horror as well.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it?

I'm not sure exactly when I wanted to be a writer, as I've always been writing for as long as I can remember. I do remember though reading Lord of the Rings when I was 8, and thinking that I wanted to go and live in a world like that, and then later realising that the only way I could would be through my imagination, and thus, writing to try and explore my imagination.

Where do you get your ideas for your writing?

This is gonna be weird, but I get my ideas from virtually everything. For example, I'll listen to a piece of instrumental music, and start to think “Yeah, this would fit this kind of scene perfectly”, and then usually run off to scribble stuff down. Film soundtracks work well for me, as does the music of my labelmates on the mrsvee record label, as everyone's music on there usually helps jog the idea process. At other times, I'll be walking outside or doing something fairly mundane, so whilst my body is doing that, my mind will go into overdrive and start thinking about stuff and imagining scenarios and whatnot, and from there, ideas will spring forth.

What books/authors have influenced your writing?

Three authors mainly. Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Brooks influenced me by showing that you can write archetypal fantasy well, and even though his work is clichéd, it would be fair to argue that pretty much everything is nowadays, so yeah, his influence on writing clichéd stuff and growing from writing the clichéd into developing your own style is a big thing of mine.

Robert Jordan paved the way for a living, breathing world for me. Whilst I've yet to reach the heights that the Wheel of Time series does in terms of making such a creative world, that influence seeps through a lot.

Brandon Sanderson is the newest author on my list, but the man really is phenomenal. His way of making magic systems that work and that are logical is impressive, as is his work ethic. The fact he also takes a lot of existing tropes and subverts them in quite unusual ways and plays with them a lot influences me a lot at times.

What are your current writing projects?

I've currently got my NaNoWriMo 2011 project to edit, as well as the RP/FF Orphans project that is currently ongoing. Those are the two major ones, though I occasionally write short stories and stuff that takes place in the Orphans universe as well as random other stuff, and I think me and a friend are going to try and do a fantasy story that subverts virtually every trope known to mankind soon.

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?

I do experience the dreaded block, and I find the best way to get through it is to just write out a basic scene, like for example, a guy walking down the street, into a restaurant, ordering takeaway and being attacked by something as he walks home. Writing down that much usually allows me to continue the story, both on paper and in my mind, as I'm past the difficult part, and can go back and flesh things out later when I'm happy with writing again.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

It'd honestly have to be mixing a sense of realism with magic. Not just in the sense of breaking the laws of physics on a regular basis, but the smaller things, like the accuracy of firearms and how easy it would be to break them, or the reactions of normal people being told that magic does exist, and so on. I also find it challenging at times to write about the magic system I've made, as I've made rules for it and it would be really easy at times to just ignore the rules I've set out, but then that begins the descent into deus ex machinas being used whenever necessary. So it's challenging to have written myself into a box and then find the way out as well without resorting to ignoring the box.

It's also challenging at times to find a decent soundtrack that I've not listened to a hundred times over and over whilst writing. So sometimes I'll have Celldweller, Clint Mansell, the Resonance Association and a load of soul music on the same playlist, for extra variety, and it does work in a really weird way.

What do you love most about writing?

For me, what I love most about writing is the exploration of everything. The exploration of a new world, if I'm inventing one, the exploration of that world's history, the events that shaped it, and its prominent figures. The exploration of why a character does something, whether it's something good or stupid, the exploration of their feelings and personality, and the exploration of their journey ultimately. That's why I'm not too fussed if I spoil crime thrillers for myself whilst I'm reading, because whilst I may know who the killer is, I don't know the journey how we got there, and that exploration for me is a major thing that I love.

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer?

Yeah, I've discovered that writing can be really cathartic at times for me. Though that may be because I tend to put my characters through the grinder at times and have them come out the other side damaged in one way or another, which is oddly cathartic, probably because I can then go “Yeah, I'm not the only one who suffers from stuff like that.” That's probably really weird, but writing really is cathartic.

I guess I also discovered that I love exploration, and can finally put a name on it, as I was always wondering as a teenager and adult why I liked certain things and not others, despite links at times. It's why I can like stuff like World of Warcraft and Mass Effect 2, to cite two random examples, and hate Call of Duty games, because for me, there is no exploration of any kind in Call of Duty games. So yeah, writing has allowed me to put a name to that, finally.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?)

Funny you should mention that. One of my characters, Jamie Kindred, originally started out as a more interesting version of myself that was gifted with magic. I was a teenager when I came up with him, and I've had his character all that time, but he has evolved a lot as a person over the years to the point where him and me only barely intersect nowadays, so I guess it'd be somewhat cool to be him for a day. Well, up until the point where he was attacked by demons.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

As tired and clichéd as this advice is going to be, it really is the best I can give for other writers. Write what you know, or at least, do the research a lot before writing. If you're going to have gigantic explosions caused by guns, try and make sure that they're done realistically, like with tracer bullets or similar, because as a reader, unless you're deliberately aiming for the rule of cool all the time and you're deliberately avoiding realism, stuff that is badly researched and shows it is massively jarring for me, especially if you're trying to be realistic. Even if you're not trying to be realistic, still do the research beforehand so it's believable.

Set yourself writing goals. It may not be for long every day, but as long as you're writing a bit a day, you can increase your output slowly and at your own pace. We're not all Brandon Sanderson, we can't all put in 10-12 hours a day of writing, but an hour or two a day is respectable, and more than that is more than respectable, especially if you're holding a job down at the same time.

Lastly, you should never try to critique your own work and edit it by yourself unless you really have no friends or anybody to show it to. If you can afford to, get a professional editor to look your work over. If you are like the majority of us, get a friend or relative to read it through. It's better than going through yourself, as you'll either not recognise enough flaws, or you'll recognise too many flaws and decide to delete everything. Both extremes are bad, and unless you've worked as a professional editor or proof-reader, you can't help but slide into one extreme or the other. So yeah, get someone else to read it first if you can.


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Interview With Author Linda Bond

I have decided to share interviews with a variety of authors and aspiring authors here on the Imagine! Create! Write! blog, because I have so many friends who are writers. Linda is a friend of mine through Facebook, and, like me, she writes children's stories, so I am very happy to be sharing her interview here as one of my first author interviews.



Name: Linda Bond

About: Born in London (UK), and an avid reader at an early age. I loved the adventure stories of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis and fairy tales. Even as an adult now I will choose a fantasy or adventure novel over a romance!

Writing accomplishments: I am the author of four books about Retishella Mermaid and her adventures. You can read the opening chapters on my webpage.

Retishella and the Dolphins

Retishella and the Pocket Shell

Seeley and the Grantuff

Retishella and Pirate Cool

I am currently working on the fifth story Retishella and the Junkball. I have two audio stories on the Shortbread Stories. One of my stories "Holiday Butterflies" was recently chosen as the Friday story and received some touching and encouraging reviews.

I am a member of the Writers In Somerset group, and we have published an anthology of short stories about the West Somerset Railway.
In my day job as a primary school teacher I organise and judge regular short story competitions. I am almost ashamed to say I also ‘test out’ my latest stories on my present long-suffering class of 7 and 8 year olds, although they have not complained yet!

What types of writing do you do? What varieties of genres do you write in? My short stories are very varied. Some, like Holiday Butterflies are based on my own experiences, others, like Pearls of Wisdom and The Inspector are inspired by fairy tales.

My Retishella stories are unabashed adventure stories, where I can let my imagination run riot, inventing new places, objects and characters. I love writing these stories, as there is no limit to my creativity in Retishella land.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it? I have always dabbled in writing. When I was younger and living in Sweden, I helped pay the bills by writing for a local newspaper. Later on when I was back in the UK, I worked writing copy for advertisers in a local newspaper.

Where do you get your ideas for your writing? The main inspiration for my first book Retishella and the Dolphins came from a walk along the beach close to where I live. The water there is an uninviting murky brown and as I walked along I saw a fisherman pull a fish from this muddy soup. As he was only a couple of metres off shore it struck me that we could neither of us see the marine life in the water, but it was obviously there nonetheless. I wondered what else could live there – mermaids maybe? Retishella and her world were born.

What is one of your favorite hobbies? I love reading. One of my ideas of heaven is to sit under the parasol at the bottom of my garden, on a hot sunny day, with a cold drink and a good book. If the book is good enough and I can’t put it down, a whole day can go past!

What are your current writing projects?
I am currently working on the fifth book in the Retishella series, Retishella and the Junkball. As with the other books it begins with an unusual situation that develops into a fight against evil. As always, things are not quite as they seem.

I am also working on a rewriting of the Cinderella story from the fairy godmother’s point of view. I have some notions about how all the characters in that story may be connected.

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?
In me writer’s block manifests itself as procrastination and displacement activity. I find no end of other things to do, and running a home with three teenage children as well as working as a teacher gives me a rich source of other things to do!

I know that if I force myself to sit at the computer and make a start, something will happen. It may not be what I want, but a story of some description will start to form.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? Checking up on facts and researching things. No matter how much I check up on, for example, the life cycle of a particular marine creature I am never completely convinced that I have enough facts. I’m always worried that I’ve missed something important.

What do you love most about writing? It is one of the most complete forms of escapism I have ever experienced. Even when a story is stuck and you go for a walk to try and work it out, you are in another place. It sometimes scares you, but mostly pleasantly surprises you with its twists and turns.

Every time I have carefully plotted a story, I find the story taking on a life of its own. I know that is a writer’s cliché, but it is a useful way to describe what happens when you start to write. I have a particular ending in mind for Retishella and the Junkball but I can’t say for certain that it will end that way until I get there!

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer? Writing itself can be therapeutic, helping you get your thoughts into some semblance of order or firing your imagination . But publishing your writing can make you feel very vulnerable. You know some people will love your stories, and others won’t. When people are not constructive in their criticisms it is easy to take it personally. It’s taken me a while to develop a thick skin against such criticisms.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?) I would love to be Mersia, the wise mermaid in her purple bower, polishing her crystals , helping others with her charms and spells.

Do you have any advice for other writers? Since publishing Retishella and the Dolphins back in 2006 I have met a lot of people who begin a conversation with me along the lines of ‘I’ve started writing a book…’ and then give you loads of reasons why they can’t finish it. My main advice for writers is to go for it!

Also, get your writing finished and then spend a great deal of time editing, getting friends to read and iron out any problems with plot or spelling etc.


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