Suspense keeps readers glued to the page. It's the heartbeat of thrillers, dramas, and even romantic comedies; suspense is responsible for driving curiosity, deepening emotion, and making every word feel like a loaded moment. But mastering it? That’s another story.

Today I’d like to share ways you can make your book irresistible - inside and out! 

While Anton Chekhov makes it sound easy with his moonlight and all, the truth is “showing” is not easy.

There’s a podcaster I listen to called Lex Fridman who intrigues me to a level I have not experienced since I pondered the mysteries of Zecharia Sitchin’s research and evidence-based theory that the human race was genetically engineered by “those who come from heaven above”. 

Have you ever read a book and thought, “It’s like the author didn’t just write this - it’s as if they were there.”

This is where it started. It was during my second trip to Egypt in 2003, I dreamed of an empire-crossing, forbidden love affair which transpired during Egypt’s glittering New Kingdom period. As I woke to the sun rising over the Nile and three thousand years slammed back into my senses, I heard these words: Tell the story. Do not let it die.

The day I brought Nova home - so tiny in her carrier - I was smitten. When we met at the shelter she came straight to me and settled herself against my chest and didn’t want to let go. I knew I had been chosen and something special had happened - that we had a rare connection that had the power to brighten one’s world, even in the darkest of times. Sadly, for both of us, there were dark times ahead. Very dark times.

Over the course of 17 years, two relationships, marriage, divorce, and moves to four countries this bed has become the sanctuary where I read, dream, fall in love, fall back out of love, argue, cry, heal from trauma, and conceive ideas for my books. This bed is, in short, an extension of my existence. If I were to have to give it up, I would lose a tangible piece of my history.

It started innocently enough with a 450km trip south of Warsaw to spend a month in Poland’s beautiful snowy mountains to work on two books, read, and enjoy creative rest - but through a bizarre chain of connections, I happened on an incredible discovery that could unravel an eight decade old WWII family mystery that went to the graves with my grandparents.

Last year was a pivotal year for me. I made some very big, very scary choices. One of them was to permanently move from my temporary home in the UK back to the EU, to the country I fell in love with, and to the man who loved me, just outside of Warsaw in the beautiful countryside of Masovia.

Ever since I could hold a crayon, I have had the experience of words surrounding me, fluttering to and fro, caged within a place I cannot comprehend, living things, like birds. Lost, lonely, unheard words that can only come to life through the attention, time, and effort of a writer who listens.