Exeter Authors Association

I am a professional actress and voice artist who has always been a storyteller, whether on stage, in front of a keyboard or behind part of my extensive collection of notebooks and pens. Living in Devon, I have a wealth of subject matter on my doorstep.

My first short story (originally written under the pen name Anna Norman and published in the Lovecraft-inspired Secret Invasion, a charity anthology in aid of MIND, in 2015), is based on the landscape and artefacts in and around Dartmoor's Fernworthy Reservoir, one of my favourite places.  This story has since been included in the anthology Fairy Tales and Folklore Reimagined, published by Between The Lines in 2017.

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In 2016, I accidentally became a playwright, having decided to do something meaningful with the Honours degree in History I achieved from The Open University in 2015. The result was a one-act play, WITCH, which examines the human story behind accusations of witchcraft, focusing on the social conditions and interactions which led to such accusations. It was based on depositions from the 1687 trial of a Lyme Regis housewife. The play, in which I perform alongside my colleagues from our company Circle of Spears Productions, enjoyed a very successful debut season in 2016 in the library at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle (where better to perform a play about witch trials?!) and since then, has gone on to enjoy further success in a number of venues throughout the country, with a lengthy list of performances. It is currently being booked by universities as Theatre in Education and has now been performed more than 75 times - our 75th performance was also our London premiere.

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I have been lucky enough to secure a contract with Troy Books in Cornwall for a book based on the research I originally undertook to write WITCH - it will look at the various issues raised in the play, expand on them and examine how theatre may be used to preserve our social history whilst simultaneously making it more accessible.

I published my first children's book in 2017. Written for my daughter in 2010, when she was three, Sammy's Saturday Job has finally been released as a Kindle ebook.  It follows the tale of a little dragon who wants to be a firefighter. She gets a chance to help out, but it doesn't go well and she needs to work out how to put things right. It encourages children to persevere and to think creatively about helping others. It also promotes inclusiveness by showing that being different doesn't mean that you have nothing to offer.

Publishing this particular story means a great deal to me because the three year-old I wrote it for became a ten year-old who sat down with me and helped me to work out what illustrations I should draw for it and where they should go.  I can't think of a better editing assistant.

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In 2018, I began writing for The Moorlander, Dartmoor’s newspaper. You can find me as one half of the Folkmoor column, which I write with my husband Mark, sharing interesting folk traditions from Dartmoor’s history.

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In August 2018, I published The Septillion of Hheserakh. This is a collection of short stories in the form of myths and legends from the Empire in which my forthcoming High Fantasy series, The Fire-Eyes Chronicles, is set. This is a companion book to the series and, while it can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone book, the tales enhance the action in the Chronicles. Among other things, you can discover how the world was created, where magic came from, how the elves got their pointed ears and why there is an unusual standing stone right in the middle of the road just outside one of the Empire’s largest southern sea ports.

The Fire-Eyes Chronicles follow the adventures of feisty, independent young elf Aamena. I'm currently working on the first instalment of her story, Dragonheart.