Tell us about the location you chose for your SUNLOUNGER 2 competition story… The location is the beautiful city of Bruges. I visited there a few years ago with a friend and went back with my fiancé this April. I actually wrote most of the story in Bruges, sat outside a café, in the sun, watching the world go by! I came up with the story idea first and Bruges seemed like the perfect setting as I think it is really romantic and simply beautiful.
Congratulations on being joint winner with Ella Fairlie! How did you feel when you learned your story was going to be published? When I first found out I was joint winner it didn’t even enter my mind that I was going to be published! Entering the competition was such a big deal for me as NO-ONE had ever really read my writing so I never in a million years thought I would win and therefore hadn’t even contemplated being published. I was so caught up in the excitement that someone liked my writing that it wasn’t until Lisa (Dickenson) said ‘You’re going to be a published writer!’ that I actually thought about that aspect of winning! I felt so happy and so grateful of the opportunity to be published alongside so many writers I love reading and admire including one of my best friends Lisa.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? This is a tough one as I am a real home bird. When we were in Bruges I did think I could quite happily have a little apartment there as it is so beautiful, peaceful and calm. I love visiting other places but I’ll always be a Devon girl at heart!
Destination you’ve returned to the most times… Probably Swanage in Dorset on family holidays. We went there for years and years when I was young and I am almost afraid to return now as it might not be how I remembered! I don’t tend to return to the same place often as my list of places to visit is so long that I like to go somewhere new whenever I get the chance to travel. That said, I did love my second trip to Bruges.
Favourite cuisine from around the world? I think in a past life I must have been Italian because I could eat pizza and lasagne till the cows come home. I have never visited Italy but hope to this summer and Italian ice cream is top of the list of things to try!
Favourite holiday cocktail? I like anything fruity tasting but my new favourite is a strawberry daiquiri. Although, I do remember a particularly potent Woo Woo in Prague that tasted delicious.
What was your best/worst holiday romance? My only real holiday romance lasted three months passed the holiday and shouldn’t really have lasted longer than the potent Woo Woo I was drinking!
