BY WOMEN.

I have a lifelong passion for creative writing and can usually be found in a café in my native Portsmouth, typing away on my laptop, a cup of coffee at my side. Writing has opened up all kinds of social opportunities for me from performing in open mic competitions to participating in a local radio broadcast about my work.

When not writing, I sing backing vocals with local Portsmouth rock band, The Shade. We compose our own songs and record at a studio based at a holiday camp on Sussex Beach. We have recently made the playlist of our local radio station and are looking forward to being interviewed soon by local press and radio. I also fit in art exhibitions, concerts and music performances.

It was in Southsea, in a writing group, that I fell deeply in love with my future husband Jim. When I walk along the beach and watch the waves, my memories of him are vivid and poignant. His tragic death from Hepatitis C left me widowed at the age of 39. I was determined that Jim’s courage and integrity should not go unrecorded, and wrote James With A Silent C as a tribute to him. It will be published by Linen Press in the summer. I am an active campaigner for the British Liver Trust and wish to raise public awareness of the vital importance of the early detection of Hepatitis C. My sincere hope is that Jim’s story will save the lives of others in the future.