Michelle Dixon

I’ve always felt that reading and writing go hand in hand.  I was a keen reader as a child and it felt natural that I’d give writing a go myself, first with poetry and then prose.  The idea that I might be able to affect readers the way I’d been affected by my favourite authors was always the thing that drove me.  If they’d created their own worlds, then I could create mine.

In the early 2000’s I studied for a degree in English Literature with the Open University and followed it up with a creative writing course.  I then gave myself a kick and finally got on with it, writing my first novel over the next couple of years.  It will probably never see the light of day but I’d like to think all those hours were not wasted and The Barefoot Child, my second attempt, shows a natural progression and everything I’ve learned.  It’s always tough, working out what you want to say and how you want to say it.  If it comes too easy, how do you know you’re doing it well enough?

I’ve always been interested in writing about the here and now, the things that affect our lives today, however seemingly small.  Even if the locations are familiar and ordinary (sometimes the more ordinary the better) I like to make my characters anything but and to offer different perspectives so the reader never knows what to expect next.  I don’t feel I have to transport the reader somewhere exotic to keep them interested.

In my spare time, when not working in the office, I love spending time in my garden in Nottinghamshire, encouraging wildlife, and travelling the country in a converted campervan with my partner, Andy, and our rescue dog.  Wherever I am, I’m always planning my next story.