About

“Do you really have to be the ice-queen intellectual or the slut whore? Isn’t there some way to be both?”    Susan Sarandon

That’s me: I’m always searching for the middle ground, but usually veering wildly from one extreme to another.

 

I started this blog in 2010 (a few months after my 40th birthday) to learn the discipline of writing. I published new stories on a weekly basis, a mix of original short stories and essays covering everything from travel writing to politics. I created a Twitter account to promote the blog and was pleasantly chuffed at the slow but steady progress I made building a readership and improving my work.

I kept it up faithfully for a bit over a year but my ambition is to be published or produced by the time I’m 50 and I realised that weekly blogging, working full-time and trying to write a novel or screenplay was madness.

The focus paid off (for a while!). I completed a draft of a feature screenplay and a novel, both thrillers. But somewhere along the way I lost sight of my goal. So now I’m reviving The Siren of Brixton and refocusing both the blog and my Twitter account on my writing. I’m here to share and I welcome contact via the comments, twitter or using the form below

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About the name

When I started this blog I lived in Brixton, South London. We lived right on Brixton Hill, a short stretch of the A23 that runs London to Brighton. There were ambulances, police cars, fire engines wailing up and down that hill day and night. It was a running joke for me and my partner, who called his fantasy football team the Sirens of Brixton. I’m kinda loud, so there’s a nice pun there, too. But let’s be honest, I really would love to think I’m the kick-ass fifty-foot woman towering over Brixton you can see in my header image.

Want to know more about me?

Here are a couple of old posts you might like

Ten things I love

Ten things I believe

About the header image

The header image was created by my talented friend Alison Earls, as a header for the first iteration of the blog. It combines my love of pulp fiction art with Brixton streetscapes. Alison’s a copywriter and graphic artist for hire, at least until a publisher recognises her talent and gives her an advance on a novel.

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