I never seem to write books one at a time, let alone by neatly starting at the beginning and ending at the end. It’s not deliberate; it’s just the way things always seem to turn out. At present I have ‘History Girls’ off at the editor and it should be published in mid November. I am working up ‘Martine’ from first draft to something in halfway decent English. And I have bits written for two more: ‘Debbie’s Gift’ and ‘Fracture’.

‘History Girls’ and ‘Fracture’ are Tina narrated, and ‘Debbie’s Gift’ is Hazel, but ‘Martine’ sees a new voice. It has Hazel’s mother, Rock star Debbie Stewart narrating. It’s based thirty years earlier in 1975/6 and tells the story of how Deb met her wife Martine Fauld. As usual with my books, it is a lot more than just a love story, though. It deals with Deb’s widowhood when her childhood sweetheart and later husband, Nicky is killed. It looks at the heartbreak of miscarriage. But it also looks at redemption and the finding of new love in unexpected places. There will be times when others might not approve of that love, and in the case of someone as famous as Debbie, the whole world might disapprove. Even in the 1970s, before social media, that hatred could be terrifying and hugely damaging when whipped up by the press. But sometimes it could be beaten and even turned into admiration.

This has been a fascinating one to write, and I’ve always wanted to get to know Debbie better.