Sometimes I wonder whether those years as an actress were preparation for when I began to create my own stories. I played the part of Linda in Blood Brothers in the West End and experienced the tremendous power of storytelling. I try to recreate that in every book I write. Like many people in Liverpool, my family came from Ireland. So many stories were passed down to me. One strange example is this. My father used to tell me about a man drowning in sugar when we would pass under the Tate and Lyle chute on the Dock Road. I retell it in Angel of Liverpool, and in the acknowledgements I wrote that I never knew if the story was true or if my dad (who died) made it up. After the book came out a family member sent me an old newspaper article and I learned it was my aunt's uncle who had drowned in the sugar. For me that is why sagas are so important. To commit to the page how difficult life was for our mothers and grandmothers but how resilient they were. Also, I love to write a big sweeping romantic arc. Romance always gives us hope and I am delighted that my latest book is one of the six finalists in the 2026 RNA romantic saga novel award.