The Novel

For almost ten years, I have carried the idea of writing this book with me. Not just an idea, but a story. A collection of characters and moments that have quietly existed in my mind, waiting for the right time to pour onto a page.

The truth is, I wasn’t ready to write it before now. The story was there, but it wasn’t finished inside my own head. I didn’t realise it until now but I needed to understand not only what is happening in the storyline, but why it matters.

I am someone who feels things so very deeply. I have always been drawn to the things beneath the surface, the emotions people carry silently and the experiences that shape us. Writing has always been my way of exploring those places and making sense of my own processing.

For almost the same amount of time that I have carried this story, I have also worked as a social worker. My career has given me the privilege of standing alongside people during some of the challenging moments of their lives and seeing the beautiful resilience of the human spirit. The past year however has brought complicated circumstances of my own that have changed my perspective. It has been a year of trauma and uncertainty, and a time where my own well-being has been at risk.

As a mother, I have found myself navigating a journey I never expected to face, which has led to the realisation that I cannot continue giving every part of myself to a profession that asks so much when my own family needs me most. The decision to resign has been full of heartache and relief, but sometimes life asks us to pause and listen to what we need.

And perhaps, after all this time, I am finally ready to tell this story.

I have decided to blog about the process of writing my first book because I want to share the journey, not just the finished product. Writing a novel is brand new to me and while I have the idea and drive, the reality is I am all in this to face the doubts, the rewrites, and all the emotional moments where this story slowly becomes real. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time.

So What’s the Story?

I have been asked what my book is about, so I thought it was time to share more about the story itself. It is a blend of literary fiction and psychological suspense, exploring family, trauma, and survival through the eyes of a child trying to make sense of the world around her.

It follows a young woman who moves as a child from chaotic 1980’s London to the windswept shores of Cornwall. It’s a new start for her and her family, until her parents meet a charismatic stranger who changes everything.

At first he is her saviour and she loves him. He brings laughter back into the house, and her parents are happier, lighter, better when he is around. But slowly he stretches his shadow over their lives. He begins to control everything, and she is the only one who can see it.

As the dream of Cornwall becomes a silent nightmare, she realises that escaping him isn’t as simple as walking out the front door. As she grows up she fights to reclaim her life but soon realises the control is stretches deep into the hearts of the people who were supposed to protect her.

It is a haunting and fiercely emotional story, about the complex ties that bind families, the devastating cost of survival, and what happens when a child is left to endure what no one else will see. It is a young woman’s brave and defiant act of becoming the heroine of her own life.

The title… Heroine.

Finally…

I never imagined that writing a novel would be a quick or simple process. A book is not just words on a page, it is pieces of yourself, your imagination, your experiences, and your understanding of the world woven together.

This book is challenging me in ways I expected and in ways I didn’t. It has asked me to sit with difficult emotions, explore uncomfortable truths, and create characters whose lives are shaped by the things they experience. I believe stories have the power to make us feel seen and give words to things we struggle to say.

I hope you'll join me and if you aren't bored of me talking about the book by the time it's published, then please buy it! ;-)