It is impossible to pinpoint the exact moment when the idea for the plot came to me, all I do know is that it was a long time ago and many years before I decided to give up working full time.

However, I do know what motivated me to actually put pen to paper ... and make sure I finished it.

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I grew up in North Devon, number six of eight children - five girls and three boys in case you're wondering as most people ask! A few years ago when our parents moved from the family home, where they had lived for almost half a century, I found a book I had penned aged seven and three quarters. It started off impeccably neat with childish illustrations but gradually fizzled out. I vowed there and then to finish my next one.

 

My story evolved over at least ten years - often when sat in traffic on the M4 driving to and from work in Bristol or Basingstoke - or at 3am when sleep proved elusive. I have always had a vivid imagination and I am fascinated by people; the complex dynamics of different relationships and how (or why) people behave in all sorts of situations. I love reading and writing books where things aren't always what they seem; where characters are torn by moral dilemmas or internal conflict - and where the reader is left wondering what they would do in the same circumstance.

 

Emily, the protagonist in I'm Going To Find You is typical of this. Still haunted by what happened on her sixth birthday should she actually do anything about it? Will anyone believe her... can she trust her own memories? Fundamentally driven by doing what she thinks is the 'right thing to do'... what if she gets it all wrong and accidentally ruins someone's life, or what if she doesn't do anything and has to live with her own shortcomings? I couldn't let this one just fizzle out. After investing so much time and emotion into Emily's journey I simply had to finish it, to get closure for my own imagination and make sure the ending was appropriate for her story.

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