I’m a working class writer from Oldham, near Manchester, in the North West of England. I write fiction and non-fiction as well as articles and essays.
My DS Jan Pearce crime series was originally published by Kindle Press in 2016, and these will be republished by Bloodhound Books in 2023.
My speculative fiction SmartYellowTM was published by Elsewhen Press. In 2017, my agent Judith Murray at Greene and Heaton TV, Film and Literary Agency secured a two book deal with Corvus Atlantic
My debut psychological thriller, Perfect Ten, was published in September 2018 and was followed by a second psychological thriller, How to Play Dead, in November 2019.
I also write uplifting fiction in the pen name Jax Ward about women’s journeys through truth and tragedy and the first of these, Teenage Kicks, was published on 23rd March 2023 by Spellbound Books, with another, Palace Records, on 23rd September 2023. I write for about two hours every day minimum and read as much as life allows.
My return to psychological fiction sees two further novels published in April and September 2023. The Replacement and The Agreement are published by Bloodhound Books and look at themes of obsession and deceit in relationships as well as friendship and mother/daughter relationships.
I am also a Chartered Psychologist, HPCP registered Heath Psychologist, Chartered Scientist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. All my storytelling work combines links between culture and identity, with strong subtexts of recovery and examination of the human condition.
Forever Manchester Podcast about my own journey
I studied storytelling from a psychological perspective, and this interest permeates all my work and all my life. I am fascinated by the interface between the mind and the external world, the inner and the outer, and where writing and storytelling sits on that interface as meaning making. In my own writing, I hope I am communicating not only words, but the silent messages that punctuate our world and bring vivid images to stories that are about people and their lives. My latest project, Dancing, Not Floating, looks at themes of everyday sexism and will be published by Fly on the Wall Press 12th May 2023.
I also write through the filter of my very grounded experience – I’ve been an auditor, a barmaid, a hot dog stand worker, a dancer, an ice skater (early career!), I crewed tankers, garage attendant, co-op shelf-stacker, caterer, market trader selling knickers, event organiser, model, and much much more! But in the background of all these jobs was a woman who stole every moment she could to write.
I write screenplays and short stories. I am have worked in various capacities including missing people, domestic violence and health. In 2013 I received an MBE for services to vulnerable people.
I live with my partner and my dog in the town where I was born. Someone recently asked me what it was like to still live near the council estate where I started my adult life at 16 as an unemployed single parent. I replied that it grounds me in my writing and locates my voice.