If Jackie Collins and Martina Cole had a lovechild together, then it would have been me! I love the glamour and drama of Jackie Collins and the grittiness of Martina Cole and find my writing style is heavily influenced by these two amazing women. Having been born and bred in East London, I loved the realness of the East End and of the families' making ends meet. My childhood memories are of coupons being cut out of magazines, my mother walking to Leos (the supermarket 20 minutes from our home) and then lugging me, my sister and the shopping back on the bus. I remember that in the 80's, you could buy cigarettes individually. My parents smoked back then, although only in the kitchen to safeguard me and my sister. We look back on that and laugh now, my mother in disbelief that she had a 'fag' smouldering near the Sunday lunch! What I did realise from a young age is that that East End women were tough.  My father worked abroad for long periods and my mum was technically a single parent during these long absences. She would often cook the dinner with me, or my sister precariously balanced on her hip. We didn't have much, but we did have each other. We had picnics in the front room if it was a rainy Saturday and on Friday after school it was penny sweets from Pete & Cath's corner shop. My upbringing instilled in me a survival instinct, and of never giving up. I learned to make tea from a young age as all problems seemed to be resolved over this and I loved Sundays and roast dinner with all the trimmings. That is my London, my childhood, and it is the rich characters of my upbringing that shaped the stories I write about today. By contrast, I am fascinated by the rich and famous and can binge watch episodes of the Real Housewives. I like to blend these two worlds in my fiction where I write of characters with nothing, fighting for better lives.  Will I be the next Jackie Collins? No. But I hope I'll be EV Scarbrow with my own success story.