When I was a very little girl, somewhere within my primary school years, my teacher asked our class to write a short story and present it the following day. Having recently had a very scary nightmare, I decided to turn the recollection into my submission.
So was born my love of writing and my very first journey into the recesses of my imagination.
“Cross Eyed Creeky” was well received and the only critique I was offered was to avoid expressing dramatic moments WITH CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS!
I have always remembered this valuable piece of advice and rarely use either.
In the 1980s I wrote a novel and called it ‘The Chinook’. It was taken up by a local publisher and became my first encounter with the trials, tribulations, pain and pleasure of novel writing. At the time it was the only novel I wanted to write and I switched to writing short stories for a while. These were broadcasted on BBC’s North West regional radio stations, in a program cleverly titled “Write Now”.
Another short story was written for the very young adult market and accepted by Jackie magazine. Some of you may remember this wonderful periodical that became the bible of teenage girls, with every necessary piece of advice a growing girl would ever need.
Fast forward to 2021 and the words that struck a chill into everyone’s soul…
COVID!LOCKDOWN!
(Sorry. Sometimes it’s necessary to break the rules.)
I picked up my dog-eared copy of ‘The Chinook’ and re-read it. What struck me was how much it could be improved. So, as LOCKDOWN! (sorry again) dragged on, I re-wrote many parts, drastically changing the opening pages and fleshing out minor characters to become pivotal to the plot. The result became ‘Let Shadows Fall’.
The sequel almost wrote itself. It was so exciting to have a new story in which I could include many of the characters from the first and bring in new. Thus was born ‘ 8 Paraffin Alley’.
Both books were published in 2023 on Amazon through Kindle Direct Publishing.
It doesn’t end there. Spurred on by comments from my readers, I am developing the plot for the last in the trilogy, still following the lives of existing characters, introducing some new ones, experiencing more suspense, danger, romance, humour and thrills.
I hope you will enjoy your journey into my website and discover for yourself the worlds you will find within.
Eddie, Joanna, Warren, Iris and David are waiting to meet you.
Cathie x