An Author's Notebook

There comes a time in a woman's life when she doubts herself. Wonders if she's made the right choices. Inevitably, she looks around...

I'm feeling happy today. Naturally, I'm unable to be happy without taking time to analyse  why . This is the ideal state we all aspi...

Someone sent me a polite message via Twitter earlier in the summer. He introduced himself as Aidan Martin  and said he wanted to flag up a b...

It has been a confusing time. In some ways, I've found the last few weeks of relative freedom more challenging than full-on lockdown. ...

Throughout the coronavirus lockdown, there will be children stuck at home who have suffered emotional or physical abuse; kids who've wit...

The depressing thing about getting old er is that you'll never be young again. Yes, an obvious point (but bear with me). I look in the ...

Gratuitous picture of dogs... I was walking the dog this fine morning when we encountered a cockapoo bounding towards us. It was the epi...

Something struck me the other day. I could be halfway through my life (assuming there are no unforeseen accidents). Not so long ago, I celeb...

There is something about navigating through water in a small vessel that has come to symbolise our struggle as human beings. The concept of ...

My husband and I were playing a fun game the other day. He would point to random objects in the house and I had to say where they came from....

My 10-year old son and I are playing a game at the moment: the 30-day Happiness Challenge *. I bought it after he finished his entrance exam...

Dream, believe, achieve is emblazoned on my teenager's sweatshirt when she surfaces late morning. Not that there is any rule about sque...

Book Review These days a working knowledge of nutrition has become part of a parent's job description. I'm forever persuading my k...

Whenever I succumb to a bit of navel-gazing, the subject is always the same. How to be happy. You'd have thought I'd got it sussed b...

Something about the dreary weather at this time of year makes me feel more anxious than usual about life. When it rains for days on end, I w...

For 51 weeks of the year, I rule over my children's diet with a rod of iron. Not too much sugar, oily fish twice a week, live yoghurt an...

On Sunday evening, as I was quietly reading my book, I experienced a zapping sensation in my head. A bit like when you crick your neck, but ...

Hermaphrodite Mum Three kids and a single mum "Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!" was King Lear's famed reactio...

Hermaphrodite Mum Three kids and a single mum The children came back from their dad's place this weekend full of the joys of spring. ...

I am immersed in what I hope will be the final edit of my second novel. At this point in the process, I am trying to look at the 'arc...