Editing the novel

Last September, I emailed Jan at Cinnamon Press the final draft of A Time for Peace. Before the end of 2015, I sent her the map of Serbia my niece, Rachel Duckhouse drew, as well as a list of acknowledgements, a brief account of the Historical Background and the...

Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones

‘Freeing the Writer Within’ by Natalie Goldberg was one of the many books I used to inspire me. Natalie noted a connection between the physical act of moving the pen and the heart that moves it. It helps get away from the rational side of the brain which...

My scribblings…

I currently have two writing notebooks: one for prose, the other for poetry. A Time for Peace was written on A4 size and I chose vivid covers: pinks, blues, patterns. A notebook is a safe place to play. Some writers carry one with them. Others make notes on their...

Flora Sandes, an inspiration…

When I read that during the First World War in Serbia, a British woman became a soldier I was fascinated. I looked up her story and my first attempt at this novel, was of my own hero, Ellen Frankland, becoming a soldier. Only I wanted her to face more obstacles. I...