I first read Confessions of a Shopaholic — or The Secret Dream World of a Shopaholic, as it was then known — in my early twenties, not long after finishing ...
This post is sponsored by Notino. Some authors can write a book pretty much anywhere. On their phone. On the toilet. On the back of a cereal packet. While standing in ...
One of the best things about writing books set in Scotland is that everywhere you go instantly becomes inspiration for a book setting. OK, maybe not quite everywhere; I've learned the ...
My blog will be 20 years old next year; here’s what it’s like spending 2 decades documenting your life online…
I’d never really wanted to be a journalist. Actually, that’s not quite true: it would be more accurate to say that I’d never really considered a career in journalism as something ...
When my husband was diagnosed with kidney failure, I went straight to the library: not to read up on transplants, or kidneys, or anything actually useful, you understand, but just to check ...
Hi, I’m Amber. People who don’t know me generally describe me as a romance author, lifestyle blogger, or “really annoying, actually,” depending on how much they like me. People who do know me, on the ...
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve just had the most surreal Easter holiday of my life. OF MY LIFE, people. Let’s see… On the first Monday of the…
Hey! Did you know that, if you’re a paid subscriber to my newsletter, you have access to my subscriber chat where, as well as being subjected to the kind of daily ...
So, let the record show I completed NaNoWriMo — on Tuesday, actually. I’m sort of proud of myself, because 50,000 words in 21 days is quite impressive, really, but I’m also kind ...
“This is my Auntie Amber,” my 21-year-old nephew told his new girlfriend when he introduced us a few months ago. “If you want to know anything about my life, she’s ...
[This post is sponsored by Notino] It’s been a while since I did one of those posts, but this week was the last week of term before the summer holidays,…
Well, I did it. It's taken many long, tortuous weeks, but I finally finished reading Max that giant book of Grimms' fairytales he was given as a baby, but which I ...
Okay, I should probably start this post by letting you know that I’m having to use dictation software to write it (Speak it? Can I really say I’m writing if ...
I want to begin this post by saying that nothing you're about to read in it is even remotely rational. It just isn't. None of these words should be banned, ...
I recently spent over a year of my life ghostwriting Scottish historical romance novels, and if you’re wondering how on earth I managed to land a gig like that, well,…
Over the last few months, I've written several short novels/novellas: Scottish historical romances, Victorian orphan dramas, Amish love stories (yes, really)... you name it. If you're into any of those genres, ...
At the height of its success, my blog attracted over 70,000 readers per month: not enough to make me Internet famous, but just enough to make sure I’d never get ...
