Success Stories

Farhana Shaikh is a writer and publisher. She founded The Asian Writer in 2007 and later established Dahlia Books to publish regional and diverse voices. She is the project lead of the ACE-funded Middle Way Mentoring project with regional and national partners. In 2017, Farhana won the Penguin/Travelex Next Great Travel Writer competition. A year later, she was longlisted …

Daniel was born and brought up in Glasgow where he studied Law at the University of Glasgow. After several years practising in the criminal courts he moved to London where he worked as a lawyer in the oil industry. Following numerous postings overseas he finally settled in Australia with his family. He has always had …

Dr. Ashish Kumar is a seasoned physician and wellness expert with over 30 years of experience in both Western medicine and holistic health practices. Based in the UK, Dr. Kumar has dedicated his career to empowering individuals to manage chronic stress, improve resilience, and achieve a balanced life. With a deep understanding of the mind-body …

Pam Billinge is a leadership coach, writer and specialist in embodied horse-led learning. She came to writing through a desire to share the incredible power of horses to help us heal at a deeply spiritual level. The Spell of the Horse and The Spirit of the Horse are both published by Blackbird Books. They weave her …

Caroline Biggs has lived all her life in Cambridge. She was an active Trustee of The Museum of Cambridge, where she founded a history festival to redress the massive imbalance between the historical knowledge about the ‘town’ as opposed to the ‘gown’. She has a Diploma in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and …

Paul Toms may be best known as an entrepreneur in the recruitment sector, but having been born with cleft lip and palate himself, he’s been a passionate Ambassador for Operation Smile since 2020. Paul wanted to support the charity’s vital work and challenge himself creatively, so, in his first foray as an author, he penned …

Jaime Southwark grew up on a council estate near Heathrow Airport and hated secondary school. From early childhood she entertained herself by making up stories in her head. She believes this kept her sane during difficult periods in her life. In 2018 Jaime had to stop work to care for her elderly mother. With time …

Judith May Evans was a company director until a vivid dream showed her writing in Tuscany. Sienese Monticiano was love at first sight, and the village became her writing home for sixteen years. Her discovery of the renowned Lorenzetti brothers’ artwork, inspired ‘Colours of Siena’, her debut novel, the first of a trilogy set around …

Lisa Bentley is an Author, Artist and Life Coach who is passionate about mental health and wellbeing in adults and children. She is also a qualified Hypnotherapist with Counselling Skills, Stress Consultant, has a BSc (Open) in Psychology and Creative Writing, and has undertaken numerous courses including a NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Children …

‘For we women are not only the deities of the household fire, but the flame of the soul itself.’ Rabindranath Tagore I was born in China and grew up in a period when literary books were very rare, often hidden. An excitement was to find one in the neighbourhood and trade with treasures – a …

Jennie Bayliss is a Life Coach and Emotional Healer. She specialises in helping people find their inner happiness – especially when a life event has caused emotional distress. Jennie offers healing, one-to-one retreats at her home in Portland, Dorset. See www.jenniebayliss.com and follow Jennie at www.instagram.com/jennie.bayliss/ Author of Heal Yesterday’s Trauma – Let go of …

Sarah Presley is co-owner of the British School of Meditation.  Known for her warm and down-to-earth teaching style, she has trained Meditation Teachers throughout the UK and Europe, supporting those who wish to go out into their corner of the world, to make a difference and help improve lives.  Sarah has been in the wellness …

Planta Sapiens: Natalie’s recent book, Planta Sapiens, was a collaboration with Paco Calvo who runs the Minimal Intelligence Lab at the University of Murcia. Building on years of his research, they asked the question ‘what is it like to be a plant’, and offered a bold new perspective on plant biology and cognitive science. While …

Thomas R. Weaver’s novel Artificial Wisdom was indie published on 5th October 2023 by Chainmaker Press. It has since been picked up to be traditionally published by Penguin Random House in the UK on August 14th and Del Rey in the USA on 12th August 2025. Thomas is currently writing a sequel. You can order …

Writer and Internationally Renowned Drummer Afrika worked with Jacqui Lofthouse, Founder of The Writing Coach and is a Founder member of The Literary Community Afrika Green  found her writing voice whilst on the Pet Shop Boys ‘Super’ world tour (2016). She worked with Jacqui Lofthouse in the early stages of her writing career and also …

Writer and Freelance Journalist Whilst a previous career as a litigation lawyer in the City gave Emma plenty of skills, it also killed her soul. After taking some time out to raise a family, she decided to pursue her original love of writing to become a freelance journalist which is how she came across The …

Author of novella, Tragedy at Bawley Bay Jacqui is extremely generous in the way she shares her extensive writing and publishing knowledge. Her focused advice has helped me to write a novel I feel proud of, and she has also provided me with a home and community, via Inside Story, for my ongoing professional life …

Author of Becoming Mandela, The 18 Challenges of Leadership, To Plant a Walnut Tree and Doing the Right Thing I really enjoyed working with Jacqui. I valued her flexibility to move between the big picture and the detail, her real sense of support and encouragement and helping me find my voice, especially with Becoming Mandela. …

Author of Apotheosis The Writing Coach was very, very helpful to me in polishing my manuscript for final submission. Like all would-be authors, I felt that my project was singularly meritorious, if only the right agent could be found.  Lesley and Jacqui validated that suspicion, but not before bringing to light key shortcomings that needed …

Author of Pen Pal Feathers The Writing Coach helped me discover my author’s voice, whilst feeling nurtured in each live session and via written feedback.  I am a native Spanish speaker and thanks to The Writing Coach, I made my dream come true, and now have a published novel in English and Spanish.   Pen …

I worked with Jacqui as part of my Creative Future Writers’ Award prize, just as I was finishing putting together a short story collection that I planned to send out to agents. Jacqui’s advice was down-to-earth, acknowledging how difficult it is to attract agents with a short story collection, but also practical—she came up with …

Author of Everything is Fine I’d been writing for several years when I consulted Jacqui after a friend recommended her services. I’d had a few rejections for a manuscript and Jacqui agreed to take a look. Jacqui helped me to consider the reader more in my opening chapters and helped me to see how changing …

Author of The Conviction of Cora Burns Without Jacqui, I would not now be a published author. She was there at several key points in my writing career with the advice and encouragement that allowed me to make the move to the next stage. When I began feeling my way towards writing fiction, Jacqui’s gentle …

Winner of the 2015 Carte Blanche/CNFC competiton for Creative Nonfiction I started working with Jacqui Lofthouse at the beginning of 2011. We were in the middle of extensive renovations and Brisbane flooded just as my four-year old was trying to toilet train her toddler sister. I had stuffed a rough draft of a novel that …