Writing a novel has always been high on my bucket list

I've always enjoyed writing. I remember at infant school writing a play featuring a protagonist called Justin Time. I considered what I  had written to be extremely clever and hilariously funny. I also remember when I was at Middle school the look of dismay on my English teacher's face when I handed in a story I had written that must have been at least 30 pages long. My best exam results were always for English Language, English Literature and History.

Reading is my passion. I read every day and usually have two books on the go; one fiction and one non-fiction. I tend to only read historical non-fiction – I'm not a fan of historical fiction although I have read and enjoyed a small number.

As for fiction I read anything and everything. I love revisiting classics such as Pride and Prejudice (my favourite character being Elizabeth's father) but I also enjoy discovering new authors. If I've really enjoyed a book by an author I've not read before I will immediately search out everything else they've ever written. Sometimes this can prove disappointing but not very often. However, my favourite genre of all is Crime and I love a good crime thriller. There are far too many wonderful authors and favourite detectives to mention but I've enjoyed a breadth of crime novels from Wilkie Collins's Woman in White which is a very early example of a detective story right up to Richard Osman's latest offering.

I've always wanted to write a book – it's been on my bucket list for years, but I had never been able to come up with a story line that worked; that is until the plot for 'An Accidental Serial Killer' came into my head. Although I have to admit that the finished book bears little resemblance to my original idea; the plot changed and the characters developed as the book was written.

I wrote the outline during the first Covid lockdown and I worked on it religiously for quite sometime. My daughters and I would video call each other on a Sunday afternoon and I would tell them my latest ideas and they were both incredibly helpful and enthusiastic. Then, as things began to return to normal, for some reason I completely lost confidence in my ability to write and I didn't even look at the manuscript for over a year. It was my daughters who persuaded me to continue with it. They asked to see what had been written so far and were so complementary and enthusiastic about the story and the way in which it was written that I determined to carry on. I kept them updated with ideas and changes and they offered useful suggestions. Then as I neared the end of the story I had a lightbulb moment about a plot twist. I wasn't sure that it would work so I decided not to share it with anybody beforehand but instead to wait and see what they thought when they read the book as a whole.

It was only ever my intention for the finished article to be read by my immediate family. I never considered making it available for a wider audience. This was just my little lock down project and as such, in my head, I had decided which member of the family to give the manuscript to first and then depending on their reaction, who to allow to read it next. So I had the family all sorted into an order finishing with my husband Neil. My reason for putting Neil in last place is because he is very good at giving an honest opinion and occasionally he can be a little too honest for comfort. When the children were growing up he always told them that if they were looking for a solution then they should approach him but if it was sympathy they were after they should come to me.

By the time I was coming to the end of writing 'An Accidental Serial Killer' I had come up with an idea for a second book. However, I was reluctant to start writing another novel in case no-one liked first one. Again, I had a crisis of confidence. Although I had sent the manuscript off to my daughters I hadn't made it clear that it was the finished article and they just assumed I had sent more chapters. With young children and demanding careers their busy lives didn't give them much, if any, free time so whilst I eagerly awaited their feedback – especially regarding the plot twists they weren't aware off – none was forthcoming. Neil asked why I wasn't working on my idea for another book and I confessed my fears about 'An Accidental Serial Killer' to him. Now, crime is not Neil's genre at all. He will sometimes watch a detective series with me on television but other than that he is not really interested. The only detective stories I've ever known him to read are Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe. He had no idea what my book was about as I had shared very little of it with him not wanting to be put off by his reaction. But credit to him, sensing my frustration at not knowing whether it was worth continuing with my writing he offered to read the manuscript. So as reluctant as I was, scared of what his opinion of it would be, I agreed.

It took him a while to finish it as he read it off his phone in between serving customers in the shop. Understandably, he didn't want to discuss it with me until he had finished the whole book so I spent a nail biting couple of weeks waiting for his critique. When it came it was beyond anything I ever expected. He referenced a few minor issues but on the whole he thought the book was great. He liked both the storyline and the characters. He gave me the biggest compliment I could have hoped for – 'I kept forgetting that it was you that had written it!' At one point in the book Amy discusses her teaching role with Trevor and Neil confessed that whilst he was reading that bit he thought -'That's exactly what Sally says.' Before he remembered that he was reading something I had written.

Soon after Neil had finished reading the manuscript so did my youngest daughter and her enthusiasm was incredible. She loved it! My middle daughter is dyslexic and the sort of book I had written is a nightmare for her to read but every time she finished a chapter she would ring me full of praise at the same time as making me promise not to give her any spoilers. For my birthday that year the family arranged to get my manuscript turned into a book and they had a few copies printed. In readiness for this my youngest daughter kindly gave up her precious free time in the evenings to help me with the editing. When the book arrived in the post I was ecstatic. It's impossible to put into words just how amazing the feeling was of holding a book in my hands that had been written by myself.

Now that the manuscript was in book form (albeit full of mistakes) it was easier for others to read it and I gave a copy to my son-in-law. He too said he thoroughly enjoyed it and was very complimentary about the writing, although I think he was a little disturbed that his mother-in-law could write such dark material. His reaction gave me the confidence to go further afield and I passed a copy to one of my son's friends, (an avid reader) who subsequently gave it to her mother, (another avid reader). Both Neil and the rest of the family had been pushing me to look for a publisher but it wasn't until I got their feed back that I began to believe that other people – people I didn't know - might enjoy reading the book too. And that's how I came to work with Michael Terence publishing.

Receiving the first author copies of a professionally edited and published 'An Accidental Serial Killer' was one of the best moments of my life.