About me
Hi, I’m Fiona, writer, mother, nonna, carer, administrator, trouble-shooter, dog walker and the owner of a myriad of other job titles, some of which I didn’t volunteer for.
I have always had a habit of escaping into a book whenever possible, simply because stories act as a portal to other worlds. In the words of Mason Cooley, ‘reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.’
As a child, I would spend much of my free time within the pages of a book, on the way to school, on visits to Uncles and Aunts, on camping trips. I loved creative writing and when my parents gave me a red lined notebook to write my ‘news’ on holiday aged six, I was thrilled to be able to create stories of my own. It was then I realised my passion for writing and that I could maybe create fictional worlds for others to visit and enjoy. I therefore scribbled away at every opportunity.
At eighteen I studied a BA in Combined Arts, English, French and History at Durham University, an incredible experience which I really enjoyed, in spite of being homesick. I then took an MA in English Studies at Oxford Brookes, writing my dissertation on ‘Jane Austen and the Masculine Image.’ I worked in various jobs, marketing and PA roles and later admin to fit around the children. Parenting four girls has been amazingly rewarding and a real privilege. They are loyal, intelligent, hard-working, kind and fabulous personalities. As they have become adults, it is like having the best group of friends.
Writing became a way in which I began to rediscover my identity after years of parenting, especially caring and advocating for two of my daughters with major health conditions, one of whom was finally diagnosed with Autism and Pathological Demand Avoidance aged 18.
Like many women, especially those who are unpaid carers, I had somehow lost myself and my own goals in the process. Yet it was those times sitting waiting for my eldest daughter outside various schools, and medical procedures that I had a chance to sit and scribble notes for my books. Creating stories became not only my therapy, but also a way of making sense of the trauma and heartache of lack of diagnosis and support, hospital visits and the constant fight against the system.
After a year or so, of writing and redrafting, attending writing festivals and practising my craft, I was overjoyed to secure a book contract and my first novel, The Jane Austen Dating Agency was published by Bloodhound in February 2020, followed by Love in Lockdown, published by Harper Collins in November 2020. A Wedding at The Jane Austen Dating Agency was released in 2021.
I have also had articles published in various magazines on diverse topics from Jane Austen’s Regency World to Motorhome Monthly Magazine.
Since then, I have lost both my beloved parents and become the special guardian of my three-year-old grandson. Raising a little one again, seventeen years after my youngest daughter was born is exhausting, exhilarating and hugely rewarding, although I do miss being able to just sit and read a book and writing time now has to be meticulously planned or by the seat of my pants in random moments!
It is however through the struggles of my children and grandson, I have had the opportunity to learn more about neurodiversity and helpful strategies both for myself and others.
My own ADHD diagnosis has been cathartic and a lifetime spent feeling that I might be too much, too talkative, too loud, too disorganised, too inattentive, too sensitive, now makes sense.
With this awareness I want to go back and give that anxious young girl I used to be a big hug. Besides, there are many super cool strengths of ADHD, such as the ability to juggle many balls in the air at once (not literally of course) and I do often end up dropping a load, and a fixation with topic and hyperfocus, even if I frequently disappear down rabbit holes during research.
Photo credit: Angie Orth
My new romance/book club fiction novel is set in a bookshop, which I hope is a warm hug of a story.
I am also currently creating my latest book which is an exciting venture into the world of speculative fiction/cosy magical realism whilst studying for an MA in Creative Writing. Mainly because amidst all the chaos and the grief of losing my mum as well as my dad, I wanted to return to basics, to practice my writing skills and improve my storytelling. Concentrating on the craft of wordsmithing is an absolute joy and books as ever bring such comfort. In my new stories, I tell the stories of underrepresented characters on the page, with the hope this might help others, who may feel otherwise lost or whose experience has been marginalised.
I am a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and several Creative Writing groups as well as part of an amazing author support network online.
“Writing is my delight; when real life wearies me, I retreat into my pages.”
Jane Austen
When I am not writing or looking after my grandson, which is not that often lol, I love walking the dogs, spending time in nature, which I find healing and having fun with family and friends, visiting stately homes, going to shows and dancing of all kinds, especially Zumba.
I used to believe that great writers were simply born with beautiful prose gushing forth effortlessly from their quill pens. I have learnt through experience and meeting many other lovely authors that any successful writer grafts at their craft, spending hours editing and altering, rewriting, sometimes starting again, constantly sculpting words into the story they want to tell. It’s not a journey for the faint hearted, but if you are travelling this bumpy road, don’t lose hope, keep going.
Be kind to yourselves,
Fiona x
