I’ve always been writing for as long as I can remember, from little stories and poems to fully fledged novels as a teenager that I now reread back and cringe at. I did a degree in creative writing and after having the words bouncing around in my head for so long I decided it was high time I turned my dreams into reality and started publishing last year.

I am a bit of a manic writer. I have ADD so I luckily (or unluckily) have something called hyper-focus which means I can sit and write for seven hours straight without moving, drinking, peeing, anything! It means I can get a lot of words down in a relatively short space and time – as quickly as my fingers can physically type them! Plus, I suffer from insomnia and spend many a night writing away the dark hours until the sun rises. I usually have two WIP’s on the go at one time so I can bounce between them, for some reason this helps to keep the creative process flowing. I generally live off chocolate and coffee and find them the perfect diet for my imagination, if not for health reasons.

Me and my fiance bought a do-er upper two years ago so every minute I’m not writing, I’m either painting, sanding, or smashing out walls with a sledge hammer – it’s very therapeutic, especially when my characters aren’t playing ball.

I always have a drink to celebrate. I also find it both satisfying and sometimes quite a bittersweet moment, especially if it’s a standalone and I won’t be writing about the characters again. It feels like I’m parting ways with an old friend. 

I’m not sure I ever have! I think the writing process is so involved that by the time I’m publishing it I’m just excited to be holding a physical copy in my hand and that is enough.

This duet is one I’ve wanted to write for a while. I knew it would be dark and I wanted to lean heavily on the stalker and secrets aspect. I also spent a long time psychologically delving into Rose’s headspace and hopefully as her character develops you get a better understanding of where all those horrible emotions come from. 

Not exactly but I do like to pull certain traits from people around me. I think it adds to the roundness of the characters and makes them more individual and believable. 

For this second part of the duet it’s a lot dark and there’s a lot more tiggers. It was a challenge to write some parts without becoming gratuitous and yet at the same time allowing you to experience the level of abuse / trauma that Rose experiences and the relief at her final redemption.

Chapter 80. If you read the book then you’ll know exactly why 😉

For Downfall I was really inspired by the works of Shantel Tessier and H.D Carlton, but Uprising takes such a twist and I’m not sure anything inspired it beyond delving into the darker recesses of my own mind. 

Towards the end of the book certain revelations are made. Rose is still so caught up in what she was forced to do, like it’s her fault, like she needs to apologise, and I love the way Roman just walks away from getting more answers, that he values their love and their relationship above the need for revenge. It’s a very powerful scene because up until that point the whole focus has been on exactly that, revenge.  But he recognises how damaged she is and how much she needs him in that moment and he puts her needs above everything else. It’s just beautiful and very symbolic of how their relationship develops through the duet.

It would be Ben. He’s not a prominent character and yet he’s very very necessary to the book. He’s the guy you overlook, the friend who never ‘gets’ the girl. He’s so loyal, and such a good person. I’d love to give him a hug and apologise because in many ways he deserves a better HEA than I’m writing for him. Sorry Ben and please don’t hold it against me.