About Cherry
In a Cretan cave
I'm now living in the the old port of Topsham, Devon with my husband, artist Robert Lee-Wade. This follows a two year 'stopover' in Exeter city after coming down from Stroud in the Cotswolds. For me, it's almost full circle, since I lived north of Exeter, near Dulverton, back in the 1980s. We've been thoroughly enjoying ourselves exploring old haunts and making new discoveries. We live on a tidal estuary, where the play of water, light and - yes - mud is always changing, and beautiful. There are calls of curlews, the whirring of wings as geese fly overhead and squabbling, cheeky gulls, providing a lively background to the ebb and flow of the tide. Topsham is also famous for its beautiful black and white avocets, who return every winter - a rarity in Britain.
I have lived in many other places – born in Edinburgh, at school in Birmingham, studied at Cambridge, raised a family
on Exmoor, and then for many years enjoyed the culture of Bristol and Bath. Each change of scene, I have found, is significant for the writer’s imagination as well satisfying my natural curiosity to explore new surroundings.
Since the age of four, I knew that I wanted to be a writer, and began publishing poetry, stories and articles in my teens. A poem published in the prestigious Poetry Review contrasted rather sharply with features that I was writing for the teen magazine Jackie at the same time! However, my first novel (written about ponies at the age of ten) and my second, chronicling the angst of a long hot summer in France, unsurprisingly didn’t make the bookshop shelves. Since then, I have stayed largely within the realms of non-fiction, and found it just as good a medium for expressing creativity and insight. Though one day, perhaps, a new novel will emerge! I am now a member of Exeter Writers, who will help me in our joint critiques, to push the boundaries.
I’ve always kept different strands of work going over the years, running a vintage clothes shop and a Russian arts business, performing early music and teaching singing, at different periods. My other interests are photography, cookery and travel. I am currently upgrading my photography skills, inspired by all the wonderful landscapes in our area. I love to travel to ancient places or exotic destinations, and favourite countries visited over the years include Easter Island, Ethiopia, Kirgizstan, Syria and Siberia. Robert and I have are also been lucky enough to lecture on many cruises, which have taken us as far afield as South America and the Arctic Circle.
I am also deeply interested in inner journeys; meditation and wisdom traditions have been a part of my life from an early adult age.
I have lived in many other places – born in Edinburgh, at school in Birmingham, studied at Cambridge, raised a family
on Exmoor, and then for many years enjoyed the culture of Bristol and Bath. Each change of scene, I have found, is significant for the writer’s imagination as well satisfying my natural curiosity to explore new surroundings.
Since the age of four, I knew that I wanted to be a writer, and began publishing poetry, stories and articles in my teens. A poem published in the prestigious Poetry Review contrasted rather sharply with features that I was writing for the teen magazine Jackie at the same time! However, my first novel (written about ponies at the age of ten) and my second, chronicling the angst of a long hot summer in France, unsurprisingly didn’t make the bookshop shelves. Since then, I have stayed largely within the realms of non-fiction, and found it just as good a medium for expressing creativity and insight. Though one day, perhaps, a new novel will emerge! I am now a member of Exeter Writers, who will help me in our joint critiques, to push the boundaries.
I’ve always kept different strands of work going over the years, running a vintage clothes shop and a Russian arts business, performing early music and teaching singing, at different periods. My other interests are photography, cookery and travel. I am currently upgrading my photography skills, inspired by all the wonderful landscapes in our area. I love to travel to ancient places or exotic destinations, and favourite countries visited over the years include Easter Island, Ethiopia, Kirgizstan, Syria and Siberia. Robert and I have are also been lucky enough to lecture on many cruises, which have taken us as far afield as South America and the Arctic Circle.
I am also deeply interested in inner journeys; meditation and wisdom traditions have been a part of my life from an early adult age.
