I have always been fascinated by why families kept secrets. Sometimes it was done for the noblest of reasons but in other cases, it borders the ridiculous and the repercussions last for several generations. My characters, Connie and Eva begin their nurses’ training, with a friendship which is so strong they become more like sisters, but their families are divided by an ancient feud. The two women are determined to uncover the secrets that have kept the two families at war for so long but as the shocking truth comes to light, it brings risk and danger in its wake.
Pack Up Your Troubles
Where did the inspiration for Connie and Eva come from?
I’m not really sure. They are a mixture of people I have known although their personal problems were a lot less dramatic.
Why did you decide to have them train as nurses in the book?
I trained as a Nursery Nurse in the sixties and worked for a period of time in the maternity ward of a general hospital. I had first-hand experience of the camaraderie and friendship between nurses. The NHS came into being in 1948 and I wanted Connie and Eva to be part of that ground-breaking era.
The story is about the strength of friendship, so how important is this to you?
I am blessed to have a great many friends but throughout my life I can count perhaps three of those as being something special. Currently, although I don’t see my closest friend every week, if ever either of us was in trouble we know we would drop everything to be there for each other. Whatever the circumstances, we laugh and cry together, usually at our respective kitchen tables, and pick up the friendship where we left off. I am grateful for that sort of a relationship and I modelled Connie and Eva’s friendship on the same values.
You have been writing for magazines for twelve years, so at what point did you decide to branch out into fiction?
Quite simply – I won a competition! I came first in the West Sussex Writers’ Club Day for Writers’ Novel Opening Competition in 2005. I wrote 1500 words and a one page synopsis which was judged by Carole Matthews. Carole was so enthusiastic about the entry that she introduced me to an agent who promised to read the finished novel. At first I was daunted by the thought of writing 120,000 words but after sleeping on it, I woke next morning thinking that if I didn’t give it a go, in five years’ time I might be wondering ‘what if…’ It took me a year to write but I did it! Sadly for me, the market for sagas had moved on and misery memoirs were in fashion. I had to wait another four years before HarperCollins Avon picked it up. There’s Always Tomorrow was published in 2011.
What can you tell us about the experience of writing for magazines?
It took a lot of market study and many rejections before I began to write the kind of story which was suitable for the market. You have a tailor your story very carefully for each specific magazine, taking into account the tone of the story, the word count and the readership. I tend to write funny stories or family stories often with humour and to date I have had 138 stories published.
This is your third novel so please can you give us a brief insight into your others.
I grew up in an era when people kept secrets and I wanted to explore what happens when someone is hiding something really terrible.
There’s Always Tomorrow –
It begins with a letter and Dottie has no idea that it will change her life forever. Her husband, traumatised by his experiences, is the father of a child born out of a dalliance in World War II. The child has been orphaned and sole care of the young girl has now fallen to him. He seems delighted but Dottie struggles with the idea of bringing up another woman’s child, especially as she and Reg are don’t have one of their own. However, when eight-year-old Patsy arrives, it becomes clear that Reg has been more than economical with the truth and Dottie uncovers a terrible secret which puts both their lives in grave danger.
Better Days Will Come –
In this book I tackle the frustration of being unable to find a missing person and the heartache caused to that person wanting to return but feeling too afraid.
Grace’s eldest daughter, Bonnie, has run away to London. Utterly distraught she has no choice but to carry on with her life, struggling to make ends meet for her and youngest daughter Rita. Her boss, Norris Finley is a powerful and calculating man. He promises to assist Grace, but his help will come at a hefty price…
Pregnant Bonnie feels unable to return home because she can’t bear the thought of bringing shame to her family. Then her sister, Rita marries Emilio who is guarding another deep secret. Each suffering and separated from one another, this book explores the hope that the strong bond of family love eventually bring Grace, Bonnie and Rita back together again.
What was your experience like of working as a Nursery nurse?
I loved being with the children but I found the strict routine in residential nurseries suffocating. We worked long hours (60 hour week) with one day off a week but there was still plenty of room for laughter and fun – when Matron wasn’t looking! The children were in Care for a variety of reasons, homelessness, abuse, being illegitimate, awaiting adoption or temporarily because a parent was too ill to care for them. I tell it as it was in my book Bath Times and Nursery Rhymes.
What is your writing process?
That’s hard to define because I don’t have a set way of doing things. I do a lot of thinking first and then I research what was happening in the town at the time, (my novels are all set in Worthing). I generally get the story down on paper first and then do extensive re-writes until I am happy with the results. Usually I know where I should start a story and where I want to end up but as I write, it’s an adventure for me as well. I have even been known to surprise myself!
What is next for you?
I am already 50,000 words into my fourth novel, the story of an unusual friendship between the three ‘wives’ of a bigamist.
And after that? Who knows…