I’m usually found in schools across Cornwall working with primary aged children who experience some barriers to their learning. I am currently embarking in an Illustration degree with the aim of using my love of art in a more creative way. I love to travel, being on the open road to find the tiniest bit of inspiration down the next unbeaten track.
I’m usually found in the midst of a wave – though I’m getting better at staying on the surfboard or in a coffee shop scribbling in my notebook or doodling in my sketchbook. I have recently wrote The Teddy Bear Emporium, a short story for the anthology Cornish Misfits, legends and Curiosities.
I’m that person who absolutely still loves the Harry Potter books. I admire the magical world that J.K. Rowling has introduced and they just let your imagination go wild. They're definitely help you escape the normal rigmaroles of life. I do also enjoy books that introduce a bit of history in them. I love genealogy and learning about the way we live. When visiting places, I always try to imagine what it would be like in an era gone by. I blame my Junior school trips for this. Every year we would go to an outdoor museum Beamish with it’s by-gone dentist, Victorian school, shops, bank and not forgetting the old-fashioned sweetshop. You amble around on old trams and visit the underground mine wearing your hard hat of course. The museum has been featured on a lot of television programmes. If you are ever in the North East of England, look it up.
I am a boring breakfaster (if that’s a word!) plain Weetabix … obviously with milk! Dry Weetabix may make you think I’m a beaver or some other rodent!
Fantasy. I love getting lost in other magical worlds.
Two or a three. Depending on style – sandals or high heels are a two, which is why I practically never wear them because I can’t usually find any in the children’s department!I once went diving in the Great Barrier Reef and the divers who organised the dive, when hearing what shoe size I needed for the flippers, sent me to stand in a line with a group of 7 to 8 year olds! I could only fit in a size 1 which were in the children section! I also had to wear size 1 crampons when hiking on a glacier in New Zealand.
To get all the crazy things that chase each other about in my head! I have always had a healthy imagination!
No. Though I think I would have done if we did them outdoors! I just didn’t like being cooped up in classrooms.
My mum has a teddy bear that she has had since she was born. It now wears the clothes of my brother from when he was a baby, to keep all of the stuffing in. I always thought that I’d probably someday write a story about an old bear, though the story I wrote for the anthology ‘The Teddy Bear Emporium,’ is not necessarily about this bear. To be honest, I just one day sat down and the story of the Emporium just came to life – in a way that actually surprised me.
Definitely hero, with all the hero’s powers like flying, teleportation, invisibility … oh and a car like Batman’s!
Anywhere and everywhere.
Where do I start? There is a lot to inspire you in Cornwall, from the myths and the folklore to the landscape. There is something in this county for everyone whether you like beaches and the sea or moors and woodlands.
To be able to share the worlds and the people that my brain conjures up. They're all here waiting to be loved!
You cannot not be inspired creatively when in Cornwall whether your passion is photography, art, writing ... or just plain daydreaming!
I have no idea. Once I sat down at my laptop, the words just spilled. I do find that I do this with a lot of my short stories. Sometimes I start with a few words that I've liked and thought that I could work with as a title and then the rest just follows.
In the school that I worked in, we always had a day that we had to dress up as a fictional character. I always would be Fantastic Mr Fox. Then it was decided that the characters had to relate to a certain genre such as 'fairytales,' so I had to be characters such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan - I actually didn't mind the last two but they're no Fantastic Mr Fox. I have no idea why I was so upset that I was no longer Fantastic Mr Fox, I use to get woken up by a fox in the middle of the night by it's awful bark! Though I have heard a fox laugh and it's hilarious! I would be Fantastic Mr Fox ...
S’mores – that’s a meal/dish, right?
Straight after I could read Dr. Suess by myself!
If you enjoy it, don’t give up! Someone, somewhere will love what you write. Write everyday and get into a writing habit and don't get upset because everything you'll write will not make it.
No. When I’ve moved down to Cornwall, I settled into a studio annexe so it’s obviously too small really for a pet. Though I do have a bed that comes out of the cupboard – I love it and I get to pretend that I am living in a New York apartment, like the programme ‘Friends!’
I love the water, so probably be a sea creature. I would like to be a sea turtle, like the one in Finding Nemo. ‘Good afternoon. We’re going to have a great jump today. Okay, first crank and a hard cutback as you hit the wall …’
I do but it depends on what the scene is and I only listen to instrumental music whilst writing. I also like to draw up playlists for the novels that I am working on, though I haven’t done this for any of my short stories.
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