Are writers born or made?
I always wanted to be a writer, and I always wrote something - stories, poetry, articles, newsletters, letters. Most writers can't help themselves! It's a compulsion. Getting published, though, is something really special, and having been so fortunate myself I now try to help aspiring writers by handing on tips which it took me years to work out. I've been published in full-length books for 30 years, with over 50 titles.
Other than books
Once I published my own magazine, DEBATE. This provided a platform for serious discussion of the sort of issues, many relating to women, which were rarely tackled those days in newspapers and magazines. I learned a lot from editing articles written by dedicated people who were not primarily writers, but had important messages to convey. It's a truism that one can see mistakes far more easily in someone else's work than in one's own! This is where an informed critique can be invaluable for less experienced writers.
I have judged short story competitions, been a final judge for the Harry Bowling Prize for a novel set in London, and was an adviser to the 3rd edition of Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers 1994. If you want to find out more about your favourite authors, consult this book. I was also asked to contribute an article on writing romantic fiction for the BBC's web page, for Valentine's day. The openings for writers on the Internet, as well as using is for research, are already enormous, and growing incredibly fast.
Editing and Tutoring
I've edited educational books and newsletters, and written many articles on the subject of education. To begin with I taught economics, but as my writing career took off I gradually moved to combine my teaching skills with what I had learned as a writer, and for a while taught short-story writing and journalism for the London School of Journalism. Part of tutoring consists of giving talks on all aspects of writing, sometimes to non-writing audiences such as readers, often in the form of creative writing workshops.
During the last few years I have given talks and workshops at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and other major writing conferences, Winchester, Swanwick, and Caerleon, which is by far my favourite along with the RNA. I've helped to run three weekend courses for Arts Council England, and I set up the Romantic Novelists' Association annual conference.
Besides this I've had many years of experience assisting new writers by providing constructive written critiques of their work, through the Romantic Novelists' Association, the Arts Council, and commercially with an appraisal agency I helped to establish, StorytrackS. All this contact with aspiring writers has helped me to study common errors, to see what is required. Both the workshops and the critiques led to my writing four non-fiction books for How To Books' Successful Writing Series.
I have edited books for Transita , featuring women 'of a certain age'.
Publishing too
While having no ambitions to become a publisher, I ventured into the realms of self-publishing when I wrote A Century of Achievement, a 290 page history of Queen Mary's High School, Walsall. I don't advocate self-publishing except in special circumstances, such as applied here. The publishing and printing is easy, the marketing fiendishly difficult! But here we had a book of very local interest, with a defined market of present pupils and old girls. It would not have been viable for a big publisher, but it worked for me and the Old Girls Club which commissioned it. This book sold out within three months, and has been reprinted as a paperback edition.
To publish this history I set up a publishing imprint, Tudor House, and with the option of Print on Demand I published new editions of Starting to Write and Writing Historical Fiction. Advice on self-publishing is available.
I was commissioned to write a book on Castles and Corvedale to accompany a new circular walk in the area
Contact with other writers
Talking with people who understand your work, your problems, and the publishing industry, is very important. Much of my time is spent with other writers. I belong to several writers' organisations, and was Chairman of the Romantic Novelists' Association 1991-93. I ran the Association's New Writers' Scheme for three years, and helped organise RNA Conferences. For three years I edited the Newsletter published six times a year.
I graduated from Keele University in Politics and Economics. I've lived in the Midlands, Hampshire, central London, Buckinghamshire, and Shropshire with my husband, Chris, and we now have a holiday home in Madeira. We have four grown-up children and seven grandchildren. A high proportion of them have writing ambitions! Our eldest daughter Jackie is an accountant. The next daughter Debbie, who helped me write the How To Book Starting to Write, is a group production editor with Incisive Media Ltd. Cindy, the youngest daughter, worked as a district nurse before she had her three children. Our son Simon is a computer specialist, and in his spare time organises role playing events.
