You’ve probably heard that thing about all the cells in your body replacing themselves roughly every seven years, so that the you of today is literally a different person to the you of seven years ago. I was a different person seven years ago, and not just on a cellular level. Yesterday was the seven-year... Continue Reading →

People talk about five years, when you’re dealing with cancer. It’s some magical future that people look towards, because your chances of recurrence fall quite a bit if you reach it. And here I am. Five years to the day since Paul and I sat in the bad news room and our lives started spinning... Continue Reading →

Let me take you back three and a half years. It was April 2016. The Brexit referendum hadn't happened yet. I was pregnant and had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. My sister Rachel, also pregnant, hadn’t yet had her stroke. She accompanied me on an appointment to see a genetics nurse called Becky, to... Continue Reading →

If you’d told me, a handful of years ago, that I’d be sitting here, looking back on the year in which my debut novel was published, I’d have imagined that it was the best year of my life. It took me thirty-eight years to get there, after all. But I wouldn’t have known, would I,... Continue Reading →

You might remember that back in the summer, the village nursery organised a sponsored walk to raise money to help bring my sister Rachel home. Dave Keatley-Lill, who runs The White Horse pub in Quorn, offered to put on some refreshments for all the walkers, and on the night, he took me to one side... Continue Reading →

Two years ago, my nephew Louie started school, and I called round to see him in the morning and my parents were there and we took photos and all of us were trying not to think about the fact that Rachel was missing it. Today, it was Joseph’s turn. And all the things everyone says... Continue Reading →

Last week, while I got sweaty moving from one room to another, my friend Michael ran 127 miles, from his front door to mine. It was an incredible challenge to begin with, but the heatwave made it almost impossible. Still, he kept on running. Each day, I got a message saying that day was complete.... Continue Reading →

I wrote a post a while ago about the amazing challenge my friend Michael Long has taken on to raise funds for Breast Cancer Care, The Stroke Association and for my sister Rachel and her family. If you missed that, later this month he’s running 127 miles from his front door (London) to mine (Leicestershire)... Continue Reading →

It’s funny when a dream comes true; it doesn’t feel quite like you thought it might. The day of your debut novel publication is a bit like the last day of school or any other day that’s been hyped up to the max, in that when it arrives, you’re not quite sure what to do.... Continue Reading →

Tomorrow, my debut novel, Missing Pieces, will be launched. I keep telling myself that the only real change is that the Amazon button which now reads ‘Pre-order’ will change to read ‘Buy now’. But it’s not working. Today, I’m an unpublished author. Tomorrow, I’ll be a published one. People I know and love will start... Continue Reading →