One of the positive aspects of lockdown has been having an online community of fellow debut authors to rely on. Many of us have had our book launches cancelled, all ongoing events deleted from our calendars, and it’s been tough! The journey to getting your first book published can take years and to have it […]
I’m over the moon about this news! On the 12th May I took over the Zoella Instagram feed so do check that out (it’ll be saved under the Zoella IGTV tab if you missed it). You can also check out 13 Questions with Louise Hare on Zoella’s website. And it that wasn’t enough, This Lovely […]
Last month, just before lockdown began, I went into the BBC to talk to Jenni Murray about This Lovely City. Check out our chat here (starts about 19 mins in!)
Whilst in lockdown many of book events have been cancelled but a few of us writers have been trying to use online methods to share writing tips and let people know about our books. Last week I chatted with Eleni Kyriacou over Zoom, discussing our books but also sharing tips for those of you writing […]
My novel This Lovely City is set in London and the city is almost a character in its own right. I was asked to talk about some of the locations for Waterstones and you check out the video below.
Less than two months before my debut novel is published and I’m still getting used to blowing my own trumpet! However, this news is so big I can’t help it. Every January for the last few years I’ve read up on the Observer’s chosen debut novelists and this year I made the cut! It’s a […]
Few people know that Queen Victoria had a black goddaughter, named Victoria after her patron. The mother of this girl had been under the protection of the queen since arriving in England as a young child. Her name was Sarah Forbes Bonetta. Sarah’s story begins with tragedy. Born into a royal family in West Africa, as a […]
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born on 15 August 1875 in Holborn, son of a Sierra Leonean doctor and an English mother. It is thought that his father had already returned to Sierra Leone before Samuel’s mother, Alice, knew that she was pregnant (the couple were not married) and so he never knew he had a son […]
At 101 Lexham Gardens, Earls Court, London, you will find an English Heritage blue plaque dedicate to Sir Learie Constantine. He only lived there for five years but this is where he wrote the book Colour Bar (1954). In the UK we like to be smug and compare ourselves favourably to the US when it […]
Ok, there are almost nine months still to wait, but my book does now have a cover! And it’s officially available to pre-order in the UK at both Waterstones and Foyles – please do if you think This Lovely City is up your street! Remember, you won’t actually pay until March and the book will […]