Are you bored? Need something fresh?

Do something more exciting. Get your tickets now!

https://filmfreeway.com/StratfordonAvonFilmFestival/tickets

Script Sirens

Just a quick post to tell you about something I've got coming up, starting next Monday, 8th June 2020.

#GoingViral was created in response to the lockdown situation. You can read all about it here.

And don't worry if you're not free when we launch - as the videos are online, they will be accessible for some time to come.

If you watch and you like what you see, why not drop us a comment and share our content with your friends and family?


I will have more news for you shortly, I hope, when normal filming can resume around the world.

Until then - keep safe, and happy viewing! x

Men In Sheds and other news.

Hello everyone!

Well we're still in January... doesn't it go on? Cold, dark drizzly days almost without end.

So we all need a bit of cheering up, right? Luckily I've got lots of news!

As you know, I've always got lots of different projects on at once, so to save me typing a long list, and you trudging your way through it, I'll update you only on the things that are moving more swiftly.

I have an eight part podcast coming shortly with brilliant co-writer Alexandra Taylor. Beneath The Waves is based on a true and current situation and is set in Wales. It's a drama but has humour there too and just the tiniest possibility of a blooming romance... you're gonna love it.

I have also been asked to write a TV/Netflix series set in the 80s so I'm currently researching this (and yes, I was around then, thank you, but not in the location the series is set in).

My BFI Network supported film is currently with the director and I hope things will soon be moving on that, and yesterday I signed a collaborative agreement with the very lovely and visionary Michele Lammas, in order to turn her children's book into a screenplay.

On top of that I have another big project with director Ben Bloore which is coming along really well.

As well as the zillions of other TV/film/animations I have ongoing...

But what I really wanted to mention in this post, is men. Older men. Things have changed a lot since I was a child, and now there are as many men as women who take and collect kids from school, make dinners, load washing machines.

But for the 60 plus generation, this wasn't something that came naturally. Consequently, these men, once their working lives are over, often feel misplaced in society, redundant - useless. Women, the lynchpin of most families, continue generally to do what they always did - care for children, emotionally support the family... but their men folk are being left behind.

That's why The Shed is such a great concept. Providing a place for men to meet, share expertise and help each other over a cuppa, it gives men not just somewhere to go, but a support group to turn to.

As a woman myself, I've seen what happened when my own parents retired from work. My mother found numerous new hobbies (and indeed a new husband along the way, but that's a different story entirely)  while my dad became isolated and lonely.

So take a look at the clip below. And if either yourself or a loved one fancies popping along to see what it's all about, I'm sure they'd be very welcome.

Until then - happy reading! x

Men In Sheds - Bromsgrove

Christmas wishes.

To all my readers, I wish you a fabulous Christmas and a coming year filled with wonder and delight... and because I'm a generous spirit, even if you're not one of my readers, I still wish you the above. [See? I am generous ;) ]

Once the kids go back to school, I will be straight into my new works, one drama/ romance film, a horror film, and a dystopian science fiction film.   As you may know, I like a bit of diversity. 

I am also hoping to move some of my stack of  unpublished books forward. The problem with these, is that I have to make a decision and I've always been rather indecisive - ask anyone who's ever sat waiting for me to make a choice from a menu!

Where I can, I promise to keep you up-to-date with my projects, but this is harder to do with film than books, as so much is out of my control. 

So until then - happy reading! x

Do you want to see one of the things I'm working on?

Here is part of the theatre monologue I'm working on.

Taken in isolation it's a bit weird, but hopefully you'll see how it will all eventually come together.

                        He stands there in front of me and tells me that I’m not alone. That I’ll never be alone now. That I have no need to be alone, anymore.

                         And I actually don’t know what he’s telling me. Is it that he wants to be beside me? Or that he feels he ought to be?

                         Or perhaps that my aloneness is a subconscious desire on my own part to endure how things are without having to rely on others? That I chose it? Willingly. 

                        I’m confused. But I don’t blame him. Confusion is a part of me now. Like rain on a winter’s morning, it washes over me leaving no lasting effect, because it’s only what I’ve come to expect, after all.

                        But him? He’s new into this – raw and brave like a new recruit on the battlefield.

                        Not a war zone of bloodshed and righteousness – where one side believes in its cause unto death - but the battlefield of life, where there are no rights or wrongs; no surrenders; no victories. No banners held aloft on a crimson field. Just survival. 

                        Or not.  

Dark? Yup - unapologetically so, but it is mitigated somewhat by the comedy film I'm writing. 

So until my next post - happy reading!

I'm back!

I've written the first part of this blog three times, and erased it three times, so this is my fourth attempt. 

You'd be forgiven for thinking that because of the sort of novels and screenplays that I've written, emotions would be easy for me to deal with. But they're not. In fact, I am an exceptionally emotional person; even if I don't reflect it on the outside, I'm often screaming on the inside. 

Maybe it's not a bad thing then, that after my recent bereavement, I am returning to two very different projects. One is a comedy screenplay that I am writing and which would suit Simon Pegg and Nick Frost down to the ground; the other is a sharp and introspective monologue. 

The beauty of writing these in tandem, is that the comedy elevates me from the depths of despair, whilst the monologue allows me to voice and externalise that primal inner scream. 

My father's funeral was a strange affair. Filled with funny moments and memories, heart-breaking ones, and many which were both unique and special. I wish he could have been there to experience it. I think he would have approved. 

And as for my current projects? Well he would have loved the screenplay, and he would have understood the dark monologue, but he wouldn't have been comfortable with it. 

The monologue though is intended for quite a different audience. It will be a stand-alone piece of theatre, something that will be delivered to a live audience and will take their breath away with its power and its truth. 

But working on both together works for me. Isn't that the very nature of life after all? That sometimes we cry and then we laugh or vice versa? 

Life isn't simple. Why should my work be?

Until next time - happy reading!

Please excuse my absence from this blog but I have had a very recent bereavement. Thank you for your understanding. 

On July 2nd, 3pm you can catch my interview on the radio at WWW.radioplus.org.uk or 101.5FM.

I'll be discussing my love of film and why I am now writing movies as well as novels. 

Until then, happy reading! 

Back at work! Yippee!

Here is the latest paragraph hot off the press of my newest novel. I am currently working on Chapter 6 so lots still to do.

“Do you remember the film Dirty Dancing?” Indie asked.

Suzie tilted her head to the side. “Are you saying I can’t dance because I’m not a skinny little thing like “Baby” was?” She thought of the slimness of the actress who had played the female lead. A strong gust of wind could have blown her away. No-one would ever have said the same for herself!

“No I’m saying that what “Johnny” said to her was true for you too,” Indie replied.

“No-one puts Baby in the corner?” Suzie asked thinking of the tight corner she had literally just spun herself into.

Indie laughed delightedly at the joke. “No idiot! When he told her she had to feel the music not just hear it!”

“OH!” Suzie realised Indie was right.

If you like dancing and you like a rom-com then this will be the book for you. If you like YA, sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic genres, then check out my Owners series on Amazon. Just type my name into the author search bar and you will find the first 4 of The Owners books...more on their way!

Happy reading!