I’ve come to think emotions are the most important thing about being human, and that conviction runs through everything I do. Literature that truly moves people isn’t decoration; it’s how we make sense of our lives, develop compassion, and find words for things we couldn’t previously say. I’ve spent nearly three decades writing work that does that, and helping others to do the same. I’ve also spent years understanding, from the inside, how our earliest emotional experiences can make us vulnerable to abusers, and how the work of healing from that can become the most important work we ever do. EFT tapping is one of the most effective tools I’ve found for that healing, and I’m evangelical about it in the best possible way. I speak and write about all of this publicly because I think it matters: literature, abuse, recovery, and how emotional healing can transform our lives in astonishing ways.
Speaking
I speak about the things I can’t not speak about: the power of literature to move us and change us, the reality of abuse that leaves no visible marks, and what genuine recovery — not just survival — actually looks like. I’ve spoken at Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Oxford, and Brighton literary festivals, and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. I say the things people are usually too polite, or too frightened, to say. If that’s what your event needs, let’s talk.
→ Find out more about my talks
Mentoring
Nearly three decades of teaching creative and life-writing have taught me one thing above all: the work that moves readers is the work that costs the writer something. I offer one-to-one mentoring for writers who are ready to go there — whether you’re stuck, starting out, or trying to get a manuscript into the shape it deserves. I work closely, honestly, and without flattery.
→ Find out more about mentoring
EFT sessions
I came to EFT tapping through my own recovery, and I offer it now because I’ve seen what it can do — quickly, and without requiring you to endlessly re-narrate your pain. It works on the body as well as the mind, which is exactly where a lot of us are carrying things we can’t think our way out of. Sessions are one-to-one, online.
Media
For press and podcast enquiries, please get in touch.