When a woman explained that she was struggling to be both a present mother and a productive worker, Annie Ridout was reminded of a time when she felt exactly this. Here’s how she adjusted the balance to make it better…
author
Work Life
“Facebook’s motto used to be ‘move fast and break things'”, says Abadesi Osunsade – former Amazon employee, and the author of Dream Big Hustle Hard: A Millennial Woman’s Guide to Success in Tech. “This captures the sentiments of most tech startups.” Osunsade shares 10 excellent tips…
Work Life
Debut author Caroline England was introduced to “raw, human emotion” while working as a solicitor. “Whether dealing with crime, divorce or professional negligence, a solicitor is like a counsellor,” she says. It was this that inspired her novel Beneath the Skin – out tomorrow…
Work Life
She turned her hand to novel-writing while at home with two young sons – and soon became successful enough to quit the day job. Now, Kat French is the sole earner, and her husband looks after the children and housework…
Work Life
“I absolutely hated daytime television and I wanted to do something proactive with my brain,” says author and mum-of-two Katerina Diamond. So with a toddler in tow, she began writing crime fiction novels…
Work Life
“I work in a log cabin (really just a glorified shed) in the garden. That’s great because the commute is approximately ten seconds.” Bestselling author and dad-of-two Mark Sennen on his writing life in Devon and being an involved father…
Family
“I’m allowed to feel as if writing isn’t some hobby or second stab at a career. It’s real, valid and important. My family always treated me as if I was inevitably going to get a book published.” Helen Fields on leaving her law career to become an author…
Work Life
She changed the face of children’s literature by writing books with controversial themes: adoption, divorce, mental illness. We ask Dame Jacqueline Wilson – the author of Tracy Beaker – about mornings, her in-house library and the first time she called herself a writer…
Work Life
“In 2007, divorced and a single parent, I had my first international bestseller published under the pseudonym Cathy Glass. Since then I have written a further 25 books.” Lisa Stone – mother, foster carer and author – on writing in the very early hours…
Work Life
“Mad morning rush feeding and dropping off my daughter. Meetings where I noticed yoghurt stains on my carefully planned ‘dress to impress’ outfit. The exhausting bedtime routine.” Tracy Buchanan’s account of becoming an author, while in the depths of new motherhood…