Whether you’re navigating a life-changing illness, have fallen in love then fallen apart, shat yourself in your favourite place, or none of the above, I hope you’ll find something here to comfort and entertain you.
Hello, I’m Nicola.
I’m a writer, performer, workshop leader and true-storytelling nut.
In 2021, shortly after I turned 30 I was diagnosed with a rare pancreatic tumour and was given two weeks to prepare for a major operation known as the Whipple Procedure. This was an eye-opening, heart-opening and, quite literally, stomach-opening time.
The experience changed my perspective on love, life and the importance of letting go. I felt sure the glow of survival and that my lovely new perspective would last forever.
But life moved on. Over time, it grew harder to maintain my post-operative bliss. A year passed. My stomach ached, my relationship began to fail, and I shat myself on my favourite beach. I wanted to shut down. Close off. To reach back in time for the body and the life I had before everything changed.
Thankfully, it wasn’t possible. So instead I turned to writing, as I always have. In one big uncomfortable attempt to stay open, I began to tell the story of what happened. After a while, I had a first draft of a memoir about love, letting go and living by the sea. Recently, I finished a second draft. Soon, I’ll commence work on a third.
The process is long. So, in the meantime, I’ve created this Substack. Here I’ll share short stories of that life-altering time, and my reflections on the fall-out of it all.
These are my attempts to open.
I hope you enjoy them.
I’ll be writing here at least once a month. These pieces will be free to read. If you enjoy my work and would like to support more of it, I’d be very grateful.
You can pledge to pay £5 per month or £60 for the year. For that, you’ll get access to all posts, audio recordings of them, writing prompts and more treats that I haven’t decided on yet.
Thank you for coming to my corner of the internet.
PS. Before all this, I wrote plays and performed them in the UK and Internationally. (You can read more about them here if you’d like to.) I’m represented by United Agents.
