The Story Behind My Work
My Story
For more than a decade, I worked at the centre of children’s publishing.
As Founder and Director of Bear With Us Productions, I built a children’s book development company designed to help new authors bring their books to market in a clear, professional way — while retaining their rights and royalties.
Alongside that work, I continued to build my own writing — from playful rhyme to carefully structured middle-grade fiction grounded in history, mystery, and long- form storytelling.
Writing, publishing, and heart surgery were never meant to intersect — until life made that decision for me.
A sudden heart attack and emergency open-heart surgery altered the course of everything.
Recovery required stillness and perspective. It stripped life back to essentials and demanded a different kind of honesty.
What followed was not a departure from my professional life, but a deepening of it. I continued to write, guide, and develop work — now with a clearer understanding of fragility, resilience, and the realities people carry quietly.
That experience did not replace my work. It sharpened it.
It strengthened my belief that whether we are writing for children, supporting patients, or guiding authors, what ultimately endures is clarity, emotional truth, and quiet strength.
Experience & Background
I am the former Director of Bear With Us Productions, a children’s book development company with over ten years of industry experience.
During that time, I worked with more than 1,000 authors and helped develop award-winning books across picture books, middle-grade fiction, and series publishing.
I understand storytelling from both sides — creative and commercial, emotional and structural. I have seen where manuscripts falter, where authors hesitate, and where strong ideas become publishable books.
My Approach
Everything I do begins with the same principle: the work must stand on its own.
Whether it’s a children’s story, a lived-experience account of heart surgery, or guidance for an author preparing to publish, I believe in substance over noise. Story comes before strategy. Clarity comes before marketing. And honesty matters more than polish.
I don’t write to impress. I write to connect. I don’t guide authors with sales language or inflated promises. I offer clear direction grounded in experience.
And I don’t underestimate readers — children, patients, or professionals. People recognise authenticity. They respond to work that feels considered, careful, and real.
That standard guides everything I produce.
Whether I’m writing for young readers, speaking to patients, or advising authors, my focus remains the same: clarity, integrity, and work that lasts.