Turning complex ideas into stories
people remember
I’m Zoe.
I’m a psychological thriller author (three books published so far and a new series coming in 2026) and I’m also a copywriter and social media strategist.
My speciality is helping people shine. Really sparkle and shine.
I’ll help you sound like you, but sharper.
I turn complex ideas and business waffle into content that hits home.
And I’ve been doing it for over twenty years.
I help two kinds of people, businesses who need their story told properly and authors who get the ick when they have to do any kind of marketing and self promo.
Scroll down to the bit that applies to you and find more about me here.
If you’re here, you need a content partner…
You need a copywriter, a social media strategist, content to fill your socials and your website… and that’s me!
Most businesses have fabulous, fantastic features.
Your business does, I know it does, but the problem is, features don’t sell.
Feelings do.
That’s where I come in.
I write copy that sounds like you wrote it.
I create content that lets the reader know how those features will make them feel.
And once they understand that, they understand how fabulous and fantastic your business is.
I’m the lead social media strategist for Marshall Radio Telemetry providing ongoing support across all platforms.
I’ve worked with estate agencies like Ashdown Jones, Storeys of Cheshire and JLL on marketing brochures that told the story of the lifestyle in the home, rather than a property description.
I’ve worked with travel companies that want the reader to know how the history of a place shaped the landscape, rather than the itinerary of the days.
I work with large and small businesses, to get the story and get the feelings.
My articles have appeared in Reader’s Digest, Sweet Magazine, Practical Parenting, and other offline and online publications. I can work with you on a one-off project, or sit alongside your team so let’s have a chat.
If you’re here, you’re an author trying to figure out marketing…
Welcome! Pull up a chair and let me pour you a virtual brew.
This self promotion journey is a hard, hard thing, isn’t it? As a fellow author who knows what a solitary job writing a book is, suddenly having to be extrovert and become your own publicist, PR person, cameraman, social media manager and everything else is exhausting.
I’ve had three books traditionally published and I’ve decided to go indie with my next series, provisionally titled Still Shores, because I want to learn how this side works.
The first book, Windermere Wives, is set to be out later this year and I’m writing about how I’m marketing it and the whole process over on my Substack.
I go through what’s working on social media for authors right now, what’s not, and the reality of marketing your own books whilst writing the next one.
If you’re an author and drowning in this side of it all, you need help with your social media strategy, let me be your life raft.
You came this far down the page?
If you’re here, you must want to know more about me, that’s what these pages are for, right?
You want the tea. So let me tell you.
I work mainly in my home office in the Lake District, and I plot my novels whilst walking in the fells with my English Pointer dogs. You can see most of this on my Instagram, where I document the writing life rather too enthusiastically.
I’m a natural storyteller and always thinking ‘what if..?’ But mostly on the darker subjects, which I can only blame on the moody fells and dark skies often found here in the Lake District.
Walking my dog on a deserted hill can often turn into , ‘what if I found a dead body?’ Smiling at a passing tourist can often have me thinking, ‘what if they have a secret they’re running away from?’ and eavesdropping on a conversation can often turn into, ‘what if they ‘re planning a crime and talking in code?’
Actually, thinking about it, I can’t blame the weather here, as even on sunnier days I find myself wondering about the darker underbelly of life.
I love the juxtaposition of English cream teas in the sunshine with everyone pretending life is fine when actually, there is so much more going on that is hidden.
It’s what I love about the human existence and what I love exploring in my writing, why we do what we do, and why we hide what we hide.
My favourite director is David Lynch, and if you’re familiar with his films you’ll know that he combines the slightly surreal with hidden anxiety. I write about hidden anxiety and the duality of the false persona. I’m fascinated by the rot beneath the respectable surface.
If you know Lynch’s work, you’ll understand the territory, even if my books are considerably less likely to feature people talking backwards or a red room!
I keep a dedicated notebook for every novel, where I have character traits, plot ideas, things I overhear in cafรฉs.
My books always start with what I call a vomit draft , I’ll start out with a plan and by chapter four I’ve already gone rogue. This is apparently how my brain works, and I’ve stopped arguing with it.
Twenty years of writing for businesses plus a few novels has taught me one thing though, the rules for good copy and the rules for good fiction are basically the same.
Start with a hook.
Make the reader care.
Don’t waste their time.
Leave them wanting the next line.
That’s what I bring to everything I write, whether it’s a thriller or a landing page.
You can find my books here and my next two novels, The Storrs Secret and The Windermere Wives, are both set here in the Lake District. Real villages, real landscape, and completely made-up crimes, coming in 2026.
Sign up below for the bits I keep for people who actually want to be here , news, Lake District content, and the occasional free chapter.
Crafting Compelling Stories and Helping You Get Visible
Creative Copywriting
Social Media Strategy
