LOOKING FOR A QUIRKY MURDER MYSTERY? I always wanted to write one, and now I have! I am counting the days until the fictitious village of Didsbrook will be open to the public. I can’t give you a release date yet, but I am working on it. I self-published my…

A PRECURSOR TO THE NOVEL — The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook by Tessa Barrie, with illustrations by Zoe Quinlan — What to Expect. Didsbrook is an overgrown village steeped in history. Life there had remained undisturbed for centuries until its most…

Hi, Jack, I’m home. It’s been such a long, hot day. I’ve missed you so much. Mm. I feel better already, just seeing you, and now we have the whole weekend to chill together. I can’t wait. Just give me five minutes to change, and then we’ll walk along the…

Queuing for the Queen is full of secrets and surprises. This uplifting novel celebrates not only the remarkable woman who defined an era and a country but also the diverse and unique people she served for so long. Queuing for the Queen is Swéta’s first novel and is and is…

Happy July 2022 was full of setbacks, including having my knee replacement op cancelled three times, but I was finally refitted with a bionic knee on 25th October 2022. Don’t let anybody tell you that the recovery period for replacement knees is quick or easy. How quickly you progress post-op…

I believe the fun part of writing any story is creating your characters. Good, bad, wacky, conventional and intriguing, your characters are the fuel that lights your story’s fire. So bring ’em on! The idea for my forthcoming quirky murder mystery, The Secret Lives of the Doyenne of Didsbrook, came…

I have battled with self-doubt all my life. I have never had that innate belief in myself that I could achieve, let alone excel, in anything. My late mother gets the blame for many of the things that went wrong in my life (!), …

The road to rediscovering my abs. In my youth, I was a Sporty Spice. I didn’t excel academically, so I had to be (a bit) good at something. I had a go at most sports before sticking with tennis, although I took up hockey in my thirties and went straight into the veterans’ team! In my twenties, I did aerobics three times a week, tennis twice and at the weekends. I also played in a badminton league, which didn’t do my tennis any good, but I loved it.

Thanks to fellow author Cheryl Burman for taking the time and trouble to learn a little bit more, about little old me!