Story behind my stories podcast

There are moments when life feels like it’s handing you a metaphor with a bow on it. Last Friday, somewhere between Dijon and the Italian border, we had one of those moments. We’d pumped up a flat tyre the night before, hoping it would magically behave itself for the long drive. It didn’t. Of course it didn’t.

One of the constants in my writing life is that real experiences are fundamental in my fiction. Sometimes it’s a location I know well. Sometimes it’s a conversation I once had, or a character trait borrowed from someone I met years ago. It’s never a direct lift, and it’s never the whole story. But on The Story Behind My Stories, there isn’t that same layer of distance. When I talk about what inspired a scene or why a character behaves the way they do, I’m talking about the re

And when I write, whether it’s crime fiction, travel‑infused adventure, or the behind‑the‑scenes stories that shaped them, those places come back to life. They remind me who I was, what I felt and why the story mattered in the first place.

Lately, my writing life has stopped behaving like tidy shelves labelled “fiction” and “non‑fiction”. Instead, everything seems to be talking to each other — ideas crossing over, themes echoing, one project nudging another awake. And honestly, I’m enjoying the chaos.

This work has brought me the love of my life. It brought me my retreat in Crete. It brought me health and fitness, including two surgeries — knee and nasal — that sat on last year’s manifestation list like quiet, brave intentions. It brought me deeper connections, inside and out. And at the start of 2025, it brought me a call I couldn’t ignore: return to writing.

So yes, the fervour around KU and AI is real. But my response is simple: I will keep writing from the raw, unfiltered truth of my own experience. Because that is the one thing AI can never replicate.

When I first became a writer, I thought I was a content creator. And I was—original content, the written word, the story itself. The book was the content. Simple. Pure. Mine. But no one tells you that once you publish, the content creation doesn’t end there. In fact, it multiplies.

Travel doesn't just inspire me. It immerses me in the sensory details that makes my fiction feel alive.

Driving to Crete with Rupert for a writing retreat—ferries, road trip tales, and fresh inspiration for my next crime novel.

Secret case file on the case before Thai Die, delivered to your in box on signup

Managing a corporate team or a police investigation its all the same when it comes to dealing with different characters.

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As an author I wanted to do a series of blogs letting you know a bit more about my writing journey. This series will run alongside 'The...