About Clare

I've lived on the Wirral peninsular in Merseyside, UK most of my life apart from a couple of years as a volunteer on a kibbutz and some extended periods of travel.

I've been a bank clerk,  a special constable, had my own business, worked in a local newspaper, a glue factory, a creche, a kitchen.

I used to be a magician's
assistant too - but rarely appear
out of empty boxes any more. 

I worked for many years in the voluntary sector - setting up various sustainability projects and a multi-sector forum, then for a national charity providing 'capacity building' training and grants for council estate tenants.

I was then a local council press officer for 5 years, but after taking a year off 2008/9 to travel around the world (SE Asia, Oz, NZ, S. America) with my best friend, I 'down-sized' to become a part-time library assistant.

Writing

Through all of this, all I really wanted to do was be a writer but having been easily distracted I have only been writing 'properly' for about 9 years. I've performed my poetry more than 200 times (including winning the Liverpool Slam, a gig in Las Vegas and  a short tour in Australia / New Zealand). I've had 20 short stories and nearly 70 poems published and have won a few prizes.

My unpublished (yet!) best-selling novel - The Undead Residents Association - was a finalist in Liverpool's 'Pulp Idol' competition and my first play - Enola Gay - premiered in July 2012.

There's lots more about me and bits of my writing on my website

Updated July 2012