About me
Author of funny fiction
My YA romcom The Thing About Lemons was published by UCLan Publishing in June 2023. That marked another milestone on my writing journey after my middle grade children’s comedy, Clementine Florentine was published (also by UCLan) in January 2022.
That first trad publishing deal was quite a moment for me as I’d been writing novels (initially adult comedy drama, then YA and MG) for 20 years. Along the way, I’d gained and lost agents, received literally hundreds of rejections, enjoyed some humble success at self-publishing, and had often come close to quitting what felt like the writing equivalent of a marathon without a finish line. However, in 2017 I was offered representation by Lauren Gardner of Bell Lomax Moreton Literary Agency, and my YA comedy drama The Reinvention of Rolo Rawlings was shortlisted for the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017 and longlisted for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition 2018. I thought I’d finally cracked it with Rolo, but alas, publishers turned it down. They liked my writing though, and, having been advised to try writing for middle grade, I returned to the drawing board and eventually came back with Clementine Florentine. This was The One that, after 20 years on the outside of those impenetrable walls, finally got me into Fortress Publishing!
How long have I been granted access for? Who knows? It’s a precarious path with zero guarantees and, for an introvert like myself, putting myself out there on social media and the internet is pretty terrifying. (Don’t let any confident-sounding tweets or smiley pictures of myself fool you – they take a lot of courage to post and put me right outside my comfort zone.) I’m not in a position to give up my day job and, as all writers – published, self-published and unpublished – know, writing takes a hell of a lot of time and mental energy. But even if my current work-in-progress fails to find a publisher, I’m sure I’ll keep returning to the drawing board and trying again, because at the end of the day, I can’t imagine not writing.
Copywriter, editor and pun-lovin’ criminal
Fiction writing aside, for many years I’ve worked as a copywriter for the graphic design agency I run with my husband, Chris. Before that I worked as a sub-editor on a range of magazines from glossies to TV guides. I love writing snappy straplines and captivating copy, but I also have an incurable weakness for puns, rhymes and alliteration – an occupational hazard that stems from many years ago when I used to edit the soaps pages at The Sun TV Guide.
When I’m not writing fiction or copy, I also edit other writers’ manuscripts. So, if you’re a writer who could do with some help whipping that manuscript into shape, please go to my editorial services page to see how I can help you. I also work with Curtis Brown Creative as a course reader, providing editorial feedback to students on their 6 week Writing for Children and Young Adults online course.
Writing aside…
I live in Brighton with my husband, two daughters and a flatulent dog with faulty tastebuds. When not at my laptop, I can be found in the local park, apologising to strangers for my dog’s antics and sheepishly offering them wet wipes. (Eco-friendly ones, of course.)
PS. All photos on this site are taken by and property of my other half, Chris Harrison.