Image from Nursing Times. Lying on my stomach with my hands above my head, I wasn’t worried. (Nine people in the room seemed more than necessary for a conscious kidney procedure, but I was introduced to all the focused, smiling faces.) The consultant said there’d be no pain, only when the local anaesthetic was injected…
I didn’t know about fishing.
And it’s the end of Frankfurt Book Fair. Less than a year in the publishing industry and my CEO has taken me to London Book Fair and now FBF. The walking, the talking, the showcasing the smiling; it’s exhausting but an experience. Each day culminates in drinks meetings and invariably a bath. And then there…
Polycystic Ovaries and Fertility
On deciding to write about PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), I’ve discovered it’s Polycystic Awareness Month! And as it comes to the end of the month, it’s a good opportunity to write about my experiences of PCOS. Until a few years ago, I didn’t know I had PCOS. At the age of 25, I had my…
15 guys you will have dated by the time you’re 30.
I’m going to be that awful person. I’m just going to say it and hope my single friends don’t hate me for it (because I would have hated me last year): WHAT A RELIEF I’M NOT STILL SINGLE. Nine months in a happy relationship has meant I’ve often forgotten what a minefield it is being…
Porn
For a while, I’ve wanted to write about porn. In March, I tackled the hairy subject of pubic hair and promised to blog about porn. So, here goes: Photo by Charles 🇵🇭 on Unsplash Porn is such a tricky subject to discuss. Not only because for so many people it’s an awkward topic to talk about, but also…
60 years.
In the space of 20 minutes I saw 60 years. I lived through two marriages – two divorces, and then, strangely, our break up. Slipping in and out of consciousness, the present seemed out of reach. Grasping onto it for three minutes only for the inevitable slip, slip, slip away to wash over me. Fear…
The builder.
Friday, 4pm rolls around. The drilling and radio stop. Today, new problems have been found, and the client is ready to flop. Finishing his fourth cup of coffee of the day, the builder talks of the weekend (to her dismay). “I’m not allowed ou’ on my own,” the builder says to the client. “the…
Working Bookstack
My working bookstack: These are the books currently informing my writing. Some have been in the stack for years (the wrong knickers, milk and honey, the sun and her flowers) because they provide new inspiration on each opening. Others are added to my over-flowing bookshelves once I’ve worked through my annotations (e.g. Polly Vernon’s ‘Hot…
September Feels
Oh, September in Britain. The end of summer, that ‘back-to-school’ feeling, the disappointments of not achieving all those summer plans. But. But also the productivity that comes with a new term. Despite having not been a full-time teacher for the past year, and finding my feet as an Editor, I still find my working clock…
What Love Island Teaches us About Modern Dating.
Love Island has become the zeitgeist of dating for Millennials and Post-Millennials in Britain. For a few years, I rejected the series; overtly judging my sisters for wasting so much of their week aimlessly watching obscenely buff guys pursue small, toned, big-breasted women who fawn over one guy and then the next. I couldn’t understand…
