There are lots of little details of my life scattered across all my books.
I think the most obvious event is the car crash in "Sophie: Witch-Hunter".
I'd been involved in a bad crash a few months earlier, getting knocked down a ditch. I was in quite a dark place afterwards, and poured all that dark twistiness into Sophie's story.
Ironically, I'd previoisly been struggling to write the darkness that story deserved, so it ended up benefitting the project!
I think I daydreamed about being a famous author when I was young, but I have never seen it as my sole career.
From a young age, I always knew that I wanted to work with animals - horses in particular.
I spent my teens and twenties travelling the UK, working in as many spheres as possible.
Now that I'm in my thirties (and picked up a few injuries) I'm office-based, but still very horsey.
I love my horsey career, and I don't want to give it up completely.
If my books or characters have stirred a strong enough reaction, that the reader wants to leave a review; I consider that a win.
Good ones are amazing, and they're nice to read when I'm feeling low, or lacking motivation.
I like reading about what people like, and often keep it in mind when working on new projects.
Bad ones...
I think every reader is 100% entitled to leave a negative review. No book in history is universally liked, and having a range of reviews gives your book authenticity.
I enjoy reading negative reviews, and I've had some highly entertaining ones!
I also really appreciate constructive criticism, and try to use it for future edits/projects.
I don't think it's particularly hard writing male characters. I'm not a particularly feminine person, so I don't have to worry about effeminate characters!
Seriously, I think that as long as the characters are interesting and remain true to themselves, their gender is a secondary concern.
I remember being asked at one book fair: how can I write from the perspective of a teenage boy?
My answer was that in my other series I write from the perspective of a unicorn. You have to respect the characters and take them seriously, even when you're writing something light-hearted like the Northern Witch series.
Oh wow, I was so clueless when I published my first book.
I felt like I'd been dropped into this vast sea of things I didn't even know I should be concerned about.
I thought you just had to write a book, edit it, stick a cover on, and job done!
Luckily, I found out how incredibly helpful other indie authors are, and they got me trained up. It was a very steep learning curve at first.
My first book was originally published in 2013, but was quickly given a better cover and blurb.
Now that I've published 10 books, I'm starting to feel like I know what I'm doing...
Except the world of publishing is always changing, as technology develops, and effective marketing comes and goes.
You never really stop learning.
I can't remember a time I wasn't creating stories and writing.
It was only when I was 19 years old that I thought about writing to publish.
I was at university at the time, and I was disappointed with the books at my local WHSmith. The shelves were filled with celebrity books, and books that seemed all the same.
I decided that, if I wanted to read a book I'd enjoy, I might as well write it first.
I started writing The Shadow Rises - the first draft took about a year.
I started writing the rest of the trilogy, whilst I approached agents and publishers.
In seven years of querying, I only had one positive response, which fizzled out in the end.
Eventually I decided to give indie publishing a go, and never looked back!
I know that it probably doesn't appeal to everyone, but my stress reliever is my horse.
After a stressful day at the office, or having writer's block, there's nothing better than taking my horse into the countryside. Away from people and pressure, having a good gallop to blast the clouds away.
(P.s it is against Trading Standards to say my horse gallops. He's a big black dressage donkey and rarely gallops.
Luckily, a very forward canter can also relieve stress.)
I always think they must have confused me with someone else.
I can be perfectly confident online, but when I speak to fans in person, I always have imposter syndrome.
Most people recognise my name and books, rather than me.
On several occasions people have been surprised that I'm a girl (maybe I write like a guy?).
I even had someone come up to me at a book event and ask when the male author was coming back.