What can we expect from To Stand Close?
When I started this book I wanted to write an intense, almost claustrophobic atmosphere in which my two beautiful men come together in an equal, honest and loving way. I gave them a harsh, dark world but I didn’t what to dwell on that. I wanted their relationship to grow in a gentle way despite everything. I do hope you think I managed to do that.
I’ve been writing seriously for about 14 years but I’ve been making up stories for as long as I can remember. As a little kid they were about families of talking rabbits and sheep. Later, I created complicated stories in which I married David Cassidy and we lived long, happy lives with our dozen children.
Or maybe it was Donny Osmond, I honestly can’t remember!
For a long time I felt odd because male/male has always been my choice to read. Even as a teenager, my fantasises were always about two gorgeous boys falling in love – usually with me being lucky enough to watch when it got steamy.
Three books on my keeper shelves:
It's so hard to pick only three, but I'll have a go!
• She by H. Rider Haggard. I first read it when I was about 12 and I found it really hard going. I had to look up so many words as I didn't know what they meant. But I persevered, as I loved the adventure and the idea of a mystical woman, waiting for thousands of years for the reincarnation of her love. That's the sort of love I wanted.
Am I Odd?
I’m a woman, and passionately interested in WW2 airplanes. Nothing before the war or after – although I do love the noise a Eurofighter Typhoon makes. Boom! It’s so loud you can feel it in your chest— No civilian planes and it has to be iconic. I’m very fond of a B-17 Flying Fortress but really it’s the British ones that make me go weak-kneed.