Avoid transvaginal ultrasounds and other fun things this Cervical Screening Awareness Week

Posted on June 10, 2019February 17, 2020Leave a comment

You may not be on the pulse of what’s moving and shaking in gynaecology circles, folks, so in case you’re unaware, it’s Cervical Screening Awareness Week starting from today (10 – 16 June 2019). Though it’s not my usual blog-fodder, I wanted to share my personal experience of how I overcame doctors wanting to burn cells off my cervix, to being given the all clear.

I learned a lot in my experience, and my choices and routes might not be for everyone, but I hope the below serves as a reminder that…

A #ClimateEmergency has been declared…now let’s hold them accountable

Posted on May 2, 2019February 17, 20203 Comments

The swell of urgency around climate change since my last blog post has been stratospheric. Now a #ClimateEmergency has been declared in the U.K., perception is starting to shift and finally, hopefully, we can make significant national progress which will translate to the rest of the world.

When I started writing Adaptive Consequences about three years ago, I was inspired (in the worst possible way) by the horrors of the world’s destiny if we perpetuated our same behaviours.

If it ‘aint broke don’t fix it…but what if it is?! Why are we so reluctant to stop Climate Change?

Posted on March 18, 2019February 17, 2020Leave a comment

I’d like to live safe in the knowledge we’ve not completely fucked up the planet. I’m sure you would too, but, alas, the compounding evidence suggests otherwise. Though there are the deniers out there (some even run countries!), latest polling from YouGov confirms 70% of the UK agree the weather has changed in their lifetime. The reason for experiencing 20-degree heat in February and snow in March isn’t rocket science. Though I can’t deny I prefer sunny weather to dismal, my priority is an intact planet, thanks.

Knock Knock…who’s there?

Posted on March 10, 2019February 17, 2020Leave a comment

‘Get your hands off my miscarriage!’

Series 2, Episode 1 of Fleabag. Since watching this a few days ago, I haven’t been able to shake that line out of my head. Reading it back in isolation, it seems a bit disturbing. But such is the skill of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing – a quasi-comedy delivery which tempers the impact, while simultaneously heightening its emotional poignancy. The potency of the (dark) humour in that scene is why I’m thinking about it still, days afterwards. It’s also why I’m considering writing a comedy myself, as well as inspiring this blog.

Laughter and laughing is a massive priority to me, and I think most people would agree with it’s emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits. That naturally extends to when we’re in ‘entertainment mode’, whether reading, watching a programme or a film; we seek out and appreciate laughter in those spaces too. When executed well, comedy truly elevates writing/a story into something immeasurably more gratifying. My sense of humour bends towards darker, obscure, satirical, situational, and character-based, and screenwriting offers a much richer and diverse landscape than fiction.

Passing on more than genes…

Posted on February 23, 2019February 17, 2020Leave a comment

Adaptive Consequences is a bit of a ‘slasher’ book, a melting-pot of science-fiction/thriller/domestic noir genres in one story. Though the narrative came first and the classification later, the ‘domestic noir’ element was always a fundamental part of the story arc; Adaptive Consequences (AC) is as much a dissection of family dynamics as it is about neuroscience, the future, and power struggles. With the prevalence of social media, we live in a world where we frequently define ourselves in relation to other people. Whether we want to cultivate and align with their opinion or lifestyle, or we actively distance ourselves away from them, the tentpoles that help navigate our life are often planted in relation to those around us. When we look at the formative tentpoles that habitually stick with us throughout life, they are usually derived from our family of Read more…

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