Spanning back to our early ancestors, we have used stories to make sense of the world and to entertain us. They hold morals and metaphors. Whenever we lack heroes, we can conjure them in tales, and cherish even fictitious characters.
I predominantly write fantasy, but I dabble amongst other genres, especially historical fiction, sparked by my interest in history and archaeology. Authors who’ve influenced me and prompted me to write my own work are Robin Hobb, Bernard Cornwall, JRR Tolkien, Elizabeth Peters, Terry Pratchett, Thomas Hardy, and Ursula K. Le Guin.
I am currently writing a fantasy trilogy, and hope to soon be querying the first book, The Tempering. I am also writing a portal fantasy named Guesthouse for the Lost and Found, which mixes my home county of Cornwall with the fairy realm.
The Tempering
‘We Tempered are an oddity. Seen as an ill omen and accused of bewitching others or causing livestock to sicken. We’re different, and we become a scapegoat for no justifiable reason.’
Physician, Artan Belsham, wears his life like an ill-fitted coat. Life has been unkind. Raiders from Hebendark left him an orphan. He fought and survived a civil war, and his hopes of a family were not to be. He is also Tempered, which he can only describe as sorcery, and all marked by it are looked on with contempt. When he crosses paths with Joy, a runaway teenager who is becoming Tempered, in her he sees an echo of his own life story, and the daughter he longed for.
Life refuses to be simple. Artan’s Temper is healing, while Joy’s Temper is soon discovered to be destructive. Joy fears what she may do to those she has quickly grown to love in the years it will take to master this unwanted gift. Artan can handle ignorant locals, but not Haaken Sefesk, a Hebendark raider set on conquering their home. Together, they must overcome stigma, war and the gifts the Temper gave them to recover the life together they both deeply crave.
Guesthouse for the Lost and Found
Hope House offers a life-changing experience for all who stay.
Lavinia Lockhart has arrived in Cornwall to sort out her late aunt Edie’s estate. Faced with a huge inheritance tax bill, she has no choice but to sell her aunt’s guesthouse, Hope House. A task easier said than done, especially when Guy, a supposed long term tenant is giving her an earful. He thinks someone did her aunt in, and is also oddly concerned about the whereabouts of Edie’s missing dog, Reynardine.
As Hope House offers up its secrets, Lavinia soon suspects Edie wasn’t the lonely spinster she thought her to be, and a shocking revelation catapults her into the life her aunt had lived. One which stepped beyond the boundaries of the world she knows and into the land of the fae.
Perhaps Guy is right, and someone or something murdered her aunt. If Lavinia is going to find out, she must accept fairytales exist and follow a fantastical trail in order to catch a killer.
If you would like to know more about my work, please get in touch either via my contact page or my newsletter.