Writing Stories of Hope and Healing,
And Bringing Women's Voices to Life
ACCESSIBILITY
I am committed to making this website more accessible, inclusive, user-friendly, and usable, by people of all abilities.
This will be a work in process, and I appreciate your patience while I go through it.
Pre-order it here NOW!
It's Here!!!
The BRAND NEW Novel in the **NEW**
Travelling Heart Series is now available for preorder!
When Adie Raven starts the European trip she has dreamed of for forty years, she hopes for new sights, new memories, and plenty of fun. With her dear friend Trudie beside her, Amsterdam seems the perfect place to begin. But, when the two women stumble across a forlorn little café in a quiet corner of the city, their plans take an unexpected turn.
Frieda van Esseveld is lonely, overwhelmed, and mourning a lifetime of lost opportunities. As she fights to withstand the disapproval of her overly critical father, she also feels powerless to save the little business that means so much to her. Drawn to her plight, and her quiet desperation, Adie and Trudie resolve to help her turn things around.
But, just as their plans take shape, Trudie is dealt a devastating blow and she must grapple with a grief that's complicated by separation, guilt, and unresolved emotions. She insists on returning home alone.
Abandoned in Amsterdam, Adie is forced to put her own emotions aside and refocus. But, as the little café begins to transform, among coffee cups, canal views, and confessions, an unexpected friendship deepens and becomes far more meaningful than she ever could have imagined.
Warm, hopeful, and heartfelt, Crisis at Canalside Café is a novel about friendship, complicated losses, healing fractured families, and the formidable power of women to help one another find their feet again.
AVAILABLE NOW!
WELCOME, READER!
Thanks for popping in!
Here's where you'll find all of my books in suggested reading order:
Click here to go straight to the novel synopses
There are a lot of great writers out there, and a lot of really good books.
So why should you buy mine?
Well, there are few reasons! For a start, nobody else is me! My writing style sets me apart, in offering my lovely readers a fresh and engaging experience they can only find through my 'voice'. My characters are relatable, complex, and memorable, and my readers are emotionally invested in their journeys. The stories are about real-life issues, like grief through divorce or widowhood, or a loss of a different kind, dealing with menopause or family problems, and recovering from trauma. Readers can relate to and identify with a lot of what I write about, which keeps them turning pages late into the night. My novels explore deep emotions and real-life struggles that resonate with many of my readers on a very personal level. I have created a fictional universe with a lot of attention to the details in it, so my readers can vividly imagine and feel involved in it, and many find that they form a bond with the storylines and characters, some of which keep coming back in different novels. Picking up the next Teapot Cottage novel is like coming home to friends!
My stories explore meaningful themes, such as love, loss, resilience, and hope. They are themes that stay with my readers long after they finish one of my books. They offer a perfect, gentle escape from everyday life, and transport readers into new adventures. Many tell me that they often see themselves in my stories and feel inspired to reflect on their own lives. That's a great compliment, and it's what I always hope for, in writing 'ordinary' stories for 'ordinary' people! Happy readers are everything, to an author!
My books also make thoughtful gifts for friends and family who enjoy great stories so, even if they are not your preferred genre, maybe someone you care about would enjoy them.
What Are My Books About, & Who Are They For?
All of my novels are about hope and inspiration to recover from different kinds of life-shattering trauma. They are all stand-alone stories, but ALL of them are LINKED - even the ones that are not part of the 'Teapot Cottage' series. The non-TC books are written in a darker genre. They are what's termed as 'literary fiction,' exploring the impact of serious crimes on people who've been affected by them.
Those novels put a little meat on the bones of one or two of the characters in the Teapot Cottage series, to enable the reader to learn a little more about them, but they are distinctly different. The Teapot Cottage stories are 'lighter,' but with important messages of hope and recovery from horrible life events. They reflect my background as a forensic, criminal and family psychologist - a hat I wore in a past life! These stories examine recovery from life-changing trauma, dysfunctional family dynamics and estrangement, and rebuilding blown-apart lives in unexpectedly wonderful ways. It all happens with the help of 'a little bit of magic,' at Teapot Cottage - a gorgeous little holiday house in the Lake District, nestled in a quiet corner of a working farm. Traumatized people somehow find themselves being drawn there, to experience the unique healing energy that lives within its walls.
My stories are for 'grown ups' of all shapes, sizes and persuasions, but they tend to have a special appeal to 'ladies of a certain age,' who are dealing with things like menopause and anxiety around issues like resolving family problems and finding the courage to face an uncertain future. These themes endure, with characters that overlap, who will eventually become good friends if you let them. They're my friends, now, and I couldn't imagine my own life without them!
Enjoy the stories and, if you like them, please let me know. If you can also leave me a nice review on Amazon and/or other literary platforms, that would be of huge help to me.
Hopefully I'll see you in Torley! You'll probably find me in Peg's cafe, sitting with a lovely cup of hot chocolate and a big slice of jelly cake, chewing the fat with Feen Raven. I'll probably have a shopping bag at my feet, with something in it from Trudies Sangster's wonderful boutique in the town, because she has the best sales ever!
I'm more than just a writer. I also produce podcasts aimed at empowering older women, and
I also help them write their own amazing stories!
You can find out more about me HERE
And click HERE to check out my PODCAST CHANNEL,
"Your Silence is Your CHOICE!"
It's where I talk about all kinds of issues that older women are facing, as we deal with the challenge of maintaining our active, valuable place in the world, and insisting on our voices being heard.
Subscribe for free!
