As a child I enjoyed the TV adaptations of various classic novels, some of which I went on to read, and make up my own stories from them.

Noel Streatfield was a favourite, and her book “When the Siren Wailed” sparked an interest in the second world war as did Nina Bawden’s “Carrie’s War” the latter being televised in 1974. Later, it was Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights”.

One of the stories I made up, and played as a game was inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s “Secret Garden” which later developed into a family saga inspired by “Wuthering Heights” and a more modern novel “Penmarric” by Susan Howitch. This is complete but on the ‘waiting list’ when it comes to being edited and published.

Writers like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte are also inspiring to me, not just for their work, but by biographies of these authors.

Modern novels have been inspiring too. A novel by Dorothy Koomson sparked the idea for my debut novel which I hope to publish on Amazon later this summer.

My apologies if I have misspelt the surnames of the authors I’ve mentioned above.