Pictures of Jane and me

Sue Hepworth and Jane Linfoot

Jane and me at the launch of Plotting for Beginners

Me in 2008:

Me (6) & younger sister, Jen (4):

My family - I am the one with the glasses:

In 1962:

In 1994:

Mother of the bride in 2001:

About me

I was lucky to be born into a large happy family – not the best start for a writer. So I was not a lonely, only child who was constantly scribbling little stories in exercise books with red shiny covers and lined paper, bought from the village newsagents. Nor did I read the entire works of Dostoevsky at the age of eight. Nor did I write my first novel at the age of fourteen.

I read Secret Seven books, dressed up as Davy Crocket, and went on dirt track races round our Lincolnshire farmyard on my bike with my brothers and sisters. As to career aspirations, I wanted to be a secretary so I could wear tight skirts and high heels.

I actually became a research psychologist, a social researcher, a full time mother and various combinations of these.

In 1996, my husband and I lost all our possessions in a fire, and two months later I was diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s when I started to write creatively.

I began by writing newspaper articles, with numerous first-person pieces in The Times, and features inthe Guardian, Mslexia and The Observer. Most of my Times pieces are humorous, but some have been about difficult life events.

I met my co-author of Plotting for Beginners, Jane Linfoot, at creative writing evening class. We never saw each other between sessions, but we emailed often, sending each other work to critique. In our first emails we discussed creative writing and how to get published, but soon our correspondence became a daily one as we fell into the pattern of trying to make each other laugh with humorous descriptions of domestic and family trivia. The idea for Plotting for Beginners developed from this.

I am now writing another romantic comedy which is set in Sheffield. Sometimes I wonder if I should be writing something more serious and worthy. Then I remind myself that making people laugh is a worthy occupation: laughter is good for health and happiness.

Update: My second book - Zuzu's Petals, combines comedy with more serious material: I have woven laughter with meaning. I hope you like it!