I took the instruction at school very literally. — When I was four-and-a-half years old, my family and I moved across the globe from the grey winter of Oxford, UK, to the hot, dry yet fertile, and wide open African plains of Tanzania. My first school was in a tiny, single-room building that was purpose-built for the British expat…

All I wanted to do was make a quick getaway, but then… — My partner and I had been moving from one short-term let to another for months by this point. We had our sweet five-year-old who was just starting school for the first time, and our two-year-old who bounced as if she had springs on the bottoms of her feet. The last…

The magic was contained in the simplicity of life — Like a tortoise, I had carried everything I owned and everything I needed. Unlike a tortoise, I hadn’t contained it all on my back, but nearly. My little Citroen car was only just powerful enough to tow the little caravan I owned, and the back of that little car was…

What some may know, others may wish to know, and yet others don’t give two hoots. — Hey! Great to have you stop by ;) Pull up a virtual seat and I will put on the virtual kettle for a cuppa. I may or may not have yet read about you, but I guess this is where you get to find out all about me, so here…

This isn’t how the script is supposed to go — Today was Mother’s Day in the UK. Sometimes I think Mother’s Day is another of those awful inventions that should be banned. It’s all very well if you have your mother close to you, emotionally and physically. Or one or the either. Or that you even have your mother at…

What’s stopping you from being vulnerable in your writing? — Recently, I’ve been battling with writer’s block more than usual. I’ve tried facing it head on and just writing. But when I do that, I find myself cringing, feeling as if I am just putting out any old crap, just to try to get over this feeling of being stuck. …

This is the silver lining of being humiliated at the hands of a supermarket. — I was recently looking through the data from the Medium Earnings extension, which shows me how much I have earned from each story I have published. It was fascinating because I hadn’t really noticed the quantities creeping up and up over the weeks and months, but I was really pleased…

They were four, I was forty; I beat them, and they didn’t even know I was their competitor. — One important lesson I have learnt in my parenting years is to never leave anything to chance — especially winning at competitions. If you think that sounds ominously as if I am willing to cheat to win, you’d be completely right. And nothing is easier than doing so when your…

While we are still trying to figure out what freedoms should be allowed and what shouldn’t, the BBC’s recent meltdown is helping things along. — The UK has been having some great fun over the last week, in case you hadn’t heard. The whole of the British media, bar the BBC, has honed in on one particular piece of drama that managed to take the spotlight as the main news for at least one night…