‘Carol your tea is ready.’ My Mum shouts up the stairs.
I’m sitting on my bed, my back against the wall. It's shady and cool in my bedroom, whilst the Sun is still hot outside at 6:00pm. I had laid the table before streaking back upstairs to immerse myself in my book.
‘Carol it’s on the table.’
I couldn’t put it off any longer. I ran downstairs.
I’ve always loved books; I’ve always loved reading and I’ve always loved writing.
I can see the big picture! I will help you distil your ideas and say what you mean.
It’s been 25 years since I first started working in publishing but it’s before then, as a research student that I learned that cloudy thinking makes writing really difficult but paradoxically its through writing that we clarify our thoughts. Faced with a labbook full of random notes and numbers I felt I couldn’t write my thesis. Making sense of it all seemed an impossible task. Fortunately, I had help and my supervisor showed me how to create structure with red ink, scissors and sellotape. Slowly I wove my findings together with earlier researchers and earned my PhD.
I have been both freelance and employed. I have taken on roles which have spanned the whole of the publishing process from market research and writing to being part of the sign off team before a title goes to press. I have mainly worked on nonfiction titles that lean towards science and practical topics rather than the arts and I love it when personal stories are an integral part of the narrative.
But what I’ve really learned is:
How precious your words are when you commit them to paper and how your writing has to be treated as such.
I have a spidery sense when something isn’t quite right. This is when the work turns into a puzzle that has to be worked out - some of the puzzles are easier than others! The first step to helping you work though the gnarly parts of your book is to take you out of the words you have already written and help you to voice what you really want to say.
Writing can be really challenging, so I always try to make things as easy as possible!
I ‘hold’ you, so you feel safe, calm and relaxed.
I am a certified circle facilitator, Wild Voice writing facilitator and Women’s coach. I help women write from their bodies and access their deep well of creativity. Careful listening and intuitive questions help them explore what they really want to say and take creative risks. I have a broad life experience, including being bankrupt, divorced, happily married again and raising a combined family and now I am a grandmother. I have empathy and am open-minded. I care deeply about the women I work with and their work and am kind, honest and constructive.
I bring my belief that it is crucial you share your wisdom; my quiet determination and my resilience to make sure you don’t give up.
“Before working with Carol I had been creating short posts and sharing snippets of ideas and musings I had alongside a course I had delivered a few times. My writing habit was sporadic and I was ‘waiting for inspiration’. Up until speaking with Carol for the first time I didn’t even know this could turn into a “Proper Book” and am still delightfully surprised at being shown that what I had cobbled together could be a complete book.
Carol holds a gentle yet such a deep space to explore your inner workings. During our sessions with Carol’s coaching, I was able to land so many AHA moments, understand pieces of the book which needed focus and tweaking, or simply move through the resistance and get some words out.
Before our sessions the ‘book’ was a jumbled mess of chaos, notes and things in my head. Thanks to Carol’s insight and wisdom, I have a structure and rhythm to the book which I would never have been able to get to on my own. I have a clear idea of what the book is, who it’s for and what is required to have it completed as well as the confidence to be able to continue. I also have an excitement that becoming a published author is a possibility for me, which is such a gift.
I wholeheartedly recommend working with Carol - it was a delight from beginning to end. ”