Tell us about your writing journey from the start until now

My first memory of writing a story is from Year 4 when I entered (and won!) a school competition with The Magic Bubble. I won a red lollipop and the head teacher read the opening lines in assembly. I was thrilled! I loved writing poems as a teenager and still do. One poem was published when I was 15; I still remember the feeling and thinking ‘Wow! My writing is in a book!’ I didn’t write once I started to teach, too busy to be creative but I often told myself that when I retired, I would write a book. I’m glad to say I didn’t wait that long. After 12 years teaching, I decided to be a supply teacher; this gave me the work-life balance that enabled me to pursue writing. 

During a 4 month Sabbatical, I at last had time to stand and stare- at the cherry tree in my garden that is, and wrote a poem that then became a rhyming picture book. In 2014, I took a 6 week picture book course to polish it up and realised it worked better as prose.

It’s ironic that my first book would have patience as its theme and then take nine years before anyone picked it up! Many submissions, rejections and edits later, When Nani, When? was submitted in October 2021 and given the nod of approval in January. There was a month of negotiations, then pairing with an illustrator. The initial deadline was pushed back at least three times which left me wondering if I was ever going to see the book in my hands! Now the book is in 19 languages, including Punjabi so my elders and family in India can read it. That was important to me. Also that this dual-language book is chipped so that the story can be heard with each page turn from a special audio pen! Great for the visually impaired or for EAL readers. Since this first book, I have written over 10 others. 

Why did you decide to join WriteMentor’s Hub? 

Actually I won a scholarship, just a month after I was offered a contract. It was perfect timing for the next leg of my journey. I had already entered WriteMentor competitions and been shortlisted for the summer mentoring programme so I was familiar with the organisation. When my scholarship year was up, I subscribed. The information, opportunities, prompt feedback on Slack and ongoing support from critique group members is so helpful and assuring. 

What has your experience been like so far of being a published author?

Pre-publication was a rocky road; post publication has been much better. Holding my book for the first time was an amazing but quiet moment shared with my parents. Since then I’ve mostly organised book signing parties and a book launch at my local library and received lots of flowers and cards. 

What is your best piece of writing advice?

Be patient. Ha ha! No, really. Be prepared to be in it for the long haul. I might have written the book in 2014 but it wasn’t ready then – I wasn’t ready then. It has taken these nine years to develop my writing, understand what’s important to me to write about and to polish my cover letter and pitches. I honestly believe things happen when they are meant to, not too late but on time. This book feels that way. I needed to write another 10 picture books, join a couple of critique groups, read many, many picture books and enter lots of competitions before I was ready for my first book to be published. 

Take time to enter competitions. They can take a lot of prep but that prep hones your work and makes it even sharper and ready for submissions. And when you get an honourable mention or long/short-listed it is a massive confidence boost. You will know when you’re getting closer when these wins start to occur. One more thing- keep something visual before you of your goal- for me, it’s a Waterstones carrier bag- one day my book will be on their shelf.

Why do you think it’s important to be part of a community like the Hub? 

It’s as Stuart says, ‘writing can be lonely but it doesn’t have to be.’ The Hub makes me feel connected, part of a wider network of like-minded people who understand me, get excited and nervous about the same things as I do and understand how important writing is. I love how we celebrate on Fridays, our weekly wins- great or small and how we can do writing sprints together- that kind of motivation spurs us on. Feedback Fridays is a great opportunity for advice without having to pay or wait a long time- so many brilliant ideas that make the Hub worth the money.