In spring 2026, I was lucky enough to accompany my son to an event at Cambridge University, to a celebration event for an essay-writing programme run by Homerton College. As I’d studied English at Cambridge’s Downing College, I grabbed the opportunity to show my son around, retracing my student footsteps and also exploring anew. Straight off our 5-hour train journey from Edinburgh, we headed into the town centre, dipping into Downing College as our first port of call. Whilst

I recently attended a writing workshop with author Tendai Huchu. The workshop focused on Point of View in writing and encompassed many genres. Tendai had generously read extracts from the participating writers and led a fascinating and free-flowing discussion around his observations of these, including reading the extracts aloud with impressive gravitas and drama. Tendai emphasised the analysis of costs and benefits an author must undertake when deciding the position they wil

I wasn’t as excited about this travel adventure as I usually am. Berlin was the first place I lived after graduating from my English degree, and I’d fallen hard for it. Returning twenty years later with a family in tow, there were parallels with the novel living there had inspired. My eldest son was now fourteen, the same age as Francesca, the protagonist in my story. The same tensions that had sparked the opening scene to Saving Francesca Maier more than two decades previou

There are many ways to keep the motivation to write going. Sometimes it comes from an expected source and sometimes a change of scenery...