I’ve loved playing with words ever since I was a kid.

I started with short stories before my teens, quickly moved into writing plays (hurrah for free workshops) and then theatre journalism as I entered my twenties, eventually writing and occasionally making short fiction films on graduation. And then, you know ..  life happened.

After a long break I learned to write for a whole new audience through blogging and copy-writing, practising for free via quirky dating websites, guest blogging and even The Independent online.

In 2018 I was selected by Hay House for their inaugural Diverse Wisdom initiative, and received mentoring from best-selling wellbeing author Dr David Hamilton.

I’m now Head of Positive Psychology for The Museum of Happiness, a not-for-profit which shares the art and science of sustainable happiness in playful and reflective ways.

I write newsletters for them twice a month, and guest blogged their HAPPY WORLD model during 2019.

My previous writing and production history includes;

Finalist for:

  • Channel 4/Tango’s 2001 Unleash the Talent Inside competition with short film Teabreak (co-writer/producer/director)
  • BBC’s Double Exposure scriptwriting competition (3rd/150+) 1994

Short-listed for:

  • ScreenEast’s Digital Shorts 2004 competition (reaching and attending their week-long talent camp)
  • BBC’s 2001 Talent ‘Drama Writer’ Competition
  • The Guardian’s Student Critic placements at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (1995, 1997)
  • The Lloyds Bank Channel Four’s 1995/6 Film Challenge
  • BBC Wales’ 1996 Shot in a Shoebox series with short film Brilliant Mistake (writer/director/editor)
  • The Questor’s Theatre 1993 International Student Playwriting Competition

Won places on and attended:

  • ScreenEast’s Digital Shorts week-long talent camp
  • Scriptcity’s The Reading Room script-reading workshop
  • The advanced Lancashire Film and Video Summer School (with Peter Wollen)

Published journalism:

  • Edinburgh Fringe Festival reviewer for The Scotsman
  • Winner of the Sunday Times Harold Hobson Student Drama Critic Award at the National Student Drama Festival
  • Freelance arts journalist for What’s On, The Sticks and What If?
  • Cartoonist and writer for Charlotte’s Mag/The Zine
  • Runner-up in the BFI’s 1988 One Day in the Life of Television competition, with inclusion in subsequent anthology and 5-year study project

Video work:

  • Hair, make-up and lighting for the Poet Dogs’ Betting Shop Murder music video
  • Filmed, edited and produced promo video for the Watford Schools Trust
  • Video youth worker for Hertsmere Borough Council’s summer holiday activity Pop Icons
  • Video youth worker and editor for EHDC’s youth project Buntingford
  • Director of video content for Hertfordshire Youth Service theatre production Smashed
  • Production Assistant on Outlaw Productions’ Henry V
  • Assistant Producer on Raindance-screened RLFF Turner Classic Movies Short Film Award finalist 16mm short Hero
  • Writer/director/producer/editor of Firecracker Productions’ festival-screened short A Good Bet
  • Assistant Director of Spindly Productions’ zombie short End Times
  • Screenwriter/assistant Director of Shadows of Reality short Tainted
  • Writer/director of pilot video for Clwyd County Council’s Social Services Dept, Big Step

Work produced by others:

  • Short play It All Depends On You staged by The Palace Theatre, Watford and by a local amateur company
  • Guest lecturer at Northumberland College and writer of student-produced short video The Bystander