Gertrude. T. Kitty

Hi, nice to meet you. I'm English of Irish parents. My mum and brother live in Cork, my dad passed away in 1993. I live with my husband in Middlesex. I have four children Grace, Thomas, Caitlan and Patrick; all adults now. I was unsuccessful at school and left at 16 for secretarial college. At 17 I left Hammersmith College with my typing and shorthand skills and jointed an oil company in Hammersmith as an office junior. I didn't enjoy it, the atmosphere was very stiff and stuffy. So after a year I moved into merchant banking. I met my husband, a lecturer, at 19, in a pub in West London, The Paddington Stop. We bought a flat in Harrow together when I was 20. Getting on the property ladder was much easier then. I retrained as a teacher, a career I enjoyed so much, until in 2010 I started to get crushing headaches, dizziness, headrush, confusion. I was told it was stress and although I didn't feel stressed, it seemed reasonable as I was working full-time with four children. My symptoms progressively worsened until I decided to take a career break and raise my children. I still had symptoms but not as acute so I returned to work after a couple of years as a teaching assistant. My symptoms worsened, until one day, walking around the shops, I ended up sprawled on the ground for no reason. This led to head, neck, shoulder, arm pain which my doctor dismissed until I was rushed to A&E after losing power in my arms and legs. It was one of many long spells in hospital, following a diagnosis of rapidly, progressive CERVICAL MYELOPATHY. I've since had three neck surgeries, sustained spinal cord damage and severe nerve damage. I was diagnosed with FIBROMYALGIA as a result of nerve damange. All this stemed from congenital defects that I was unaware of: congenital fusion of discs and congenital stenois - narrowing of the spinal canal. In 2014, disabled, being cared for by my husband, I began to write as an escape from pain and loneliness. In 2015, after sending the manuscript of my first novel THE REBIRTH OF HENRY WHITTLE to literary agents, I was offered representation by Catherine Pellegrino of Marjacq Scripts. Together we edited the book, mainly toning it down, making it less dark. Catherine sent the m/s to editors from publishing houses, all the big names, it was well received but not taken up. From editors feedback I realised that my book had lost its way in the editing process and I needed to take ownership of it and rekindle its magic. So I went solo. I work on books in tamden, switching between novels. RANDOM ATTACHMENT was the novel alongside TRHW. I self pubished this in December 2018 and was relieved and delighted at how highly it's been rated by bookbloggers and Amazon readers. I'm currently reworking HENRY WHITTLE, whilst writing SEPTEMBER a romantic thriller with a supernatural twist, set in a coastal town in Ireland.