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ABOUT CHERRY
I live in the Cotswolds, near Stroud, in an old stone house perched high on the hillside. From the back gate, I can walk out over miles of common land, which is sprinkled with cowslips and orchids in spring. From the front, views of the Nailsworth valley open up, once the scene of the busy cloth weaving that made Stroud famous. And the area isn't dormant today; it's known as one of the liveliest in the UK for the arts and for green initiatives. Having moved here late in 2007 with my husband, artist Robert Lee-Wade (www.robertleewade.co.uk), we're thrilled to be living in such a beautiful and active environment.
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Views from the Stroud hills and valleys
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. I have stayed largely within the realms of non-fiction ever since, and found it just as good a medium for expressing creativity and insight. Though one day, perhaps, a new novel will emerge!
They say that a writer's life is a lonely one, but I haven't found this to be so, as I've always kept different strands of work going over the years, running a vintage clothes shop and a Russian arts business, and teaching singing, for instance, at different periods. My other interests are early music, cookery and travel. I love to travel to ancient places or exotic destinations, and favourite countries visited over the years include Ethiopia, Kirgizstan, Syria and Siberia. Robert and I are also lucky enough to lecture on cruises which take us as far afield as South America and the Arctic Circle. I am also deeply interested in inner journeys, and meditation and wisdom traditions have been a part of my life from an early adult age.
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A Summer in Australia |
Palmyra, Syria |
Market, Kashgar - Western China |
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| Midnight Sun, Norway |
Uglich, Russia |
Visiting a Shaman |
Cappadocia, Turkey |
All personal narratives fascinate me, and I've included people's memories and views in many of my books, from my early social history titles to the recent 'Love Begins at 40: A Guide to Starting Over'. I now teach life story writing, and have written ‘Your Life, Your Story’ as a guide for people who want to set down their own personal history. This also links to an interest in family history, the subject of my latest book.
By a fire in Russia
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