Bio

Long Story Longer

I was born and raised on the Cumbrian coast in Northwest England in a rural town with Lake District peaks to the east and the Irish Sea to the west. As a kid, I kept myself booked and busy with youth theatre on Tuesdays, street dance on Wednesdays, marching drums on Thursdays, singing lessons on Saturdays, and guitar lessons on Sundays.

My love of movies stems back to watching the behind-the-scenes footage from the Harry Potter films. I remember asking for a stack of DVDs from Santa every Christmas in my teen years. Believe it or not, my passion for filming locations can be traced back just as far I made my poor parents trapse across London looking for the Peter Pan statue that appeared in the Mary-Kate and Ashley film Winning London (2001). Totally worth it. You’ll have to ask my parents if it was worth it to them too.

Despite my career advisor’s lack of faith, I received the A Level results I needed to attend the University of Manchester. After my first year, I jetted across the pond with Camp America to work as a drama counsellor and theatre director on a summer camp in Pennsylvania. After the second, I worked in administration at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And the next summer, before I even had the BA (hons) in drama and screen studies degree in my palm, I started working full time for a creative communications agency in Manchester as a production assistant. It was around that time I also started my blog, Almost Ginger.

Working in a creative agency taught me plenty of hard and soft skills. I learned to work through problems, collaborate with others, and how to edit and archive film footage. After a few years, I transition to a digital marketing assistant role where I could make good use of my passion for writing. It was interesting work, but I wasn’t fulfilled. After six years of living in Manchester, I moved back to the Cumbrian coast and pursued a remote freelance career in content writing and blogging as well as a life of travel.

The next six years were full of growing pains, developing my skills, and travelling as much as possible (around the pandemic, of course!). I worked hard on both my freelance work and blog, never sure that it would pay off but knowing that I had to dare greatly. Slowly, I gained consistent writing clients, won pitches, and my blog grew into a certified side hustle. I visited hundreds of filming locations and other cool destinations around Europe, North America, and Asia.

Highlights include rubbing shoulders with celebrities at Cannes Film Festival, rving around the Canadian Rockies, volunteering at a hostel on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and hiking Hadrian’s Wall Path. Spending a month in Northern Italy to celebrate my 30th birthday lead me to the biggest adventure of all. I met my American now-fiancé at a hostel in Florence, and I’m excited to emigrate to Salt Lake City, Utah and get married someday soon (government willing!).

As a remote worker, I realised I could finally support my dream of going back to school. Queen’s University Belfast accepted my application and I obtained a master’s in creative writing. Working full time as a writer while studying full time demanded all of my time and attention. It was incredibly tough at times, but I’m so proud that I believed in myself. I published two short stories while at university and I’m excited to see where this new passion will take me.

I’m currently working on my first novel, a piece of comedic commercial fiction. I’m interested in taking part in writer’s residencies, publishing more short stories, and teaching creative writing too. Life truly is a journey. I’m grateful for every stone in my shoe and branch that hit me in the face so I could end up here.

Solvitur ambulando. It is solved by walking.