The first draft offers me a second living of events, imagined or real, with subsequent drafts representing the growth and sculpting process. The ‘aha’ following plot solutions arising from my writer’s walks – accompanied by family members with and without furry tails (fairy tales?) – then flowing onto the page as I sit down or stand at my keyboard. Yes, to my fellow keyboard warriors (worriers?): sitting all day long is bad for you, but so is standing! The solution? Sit and work for 45-60 minutes. Take a stretch break, acquire an enabling beverage, pat your pet iguana, and so on. Then, stand and work for 45-60 minutes. Upright posture through both cycles, shoulders back, we are the human exclamation marks! Repeat until done, or tired. Take a power nap. Yada, yada. Find your own way! The compost heap in our garden reminds me of ideas in my head or scribblings in my big black book, a first draft or rough outline. Dead leaves, twigs, remnants of fruit and vegetables cast as far away from the house as possible. This represents a putrid process with a promising future. After turning the compost regularly over a period of time, what was once dead and rotting has been transformed into something rich and nourishing, from which new life bursts forth, from an orchid or lotus flower, to a quadruple-trunk behemoth yew tree.

Paraphrasing Thich Nhat Hanh: ‘No Compost. No Lotus.’

My self-published work explores personal experience through story, with a focus on meaning, resilience, and transformation. On 9 June 2026, my magical realism novel for young adults will be published, engaging one of life’s enduring questions—what happens beyond the visible, on the other side. The aim is clear: bring this work to a wider audience through traditional publication. If you’re drawn to thoughtful, story-driven exploration—on the page or on screen—there’s something here for you. I look forward to sharing Chelsea Glitter and the Graveyard on the Hill with you, and to following Chelsea and her companions as their story unfolds—inside, and beyond, the Graveyard on the Hill.