I have a story in the September issue of Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special (which should still be in the shops for a few more days). Unusually I’ve included a real event in Barbara’s Legacy. When I was about seven, my Mum discovered a horse had cut it’s leg – hard to miss really as the blood was spurting out in a great arc. Clearly help was needed quickly, so I clamped my hands over the injury to lessen the blood loss whilst she ran to call for assistance. Being brought up on a farm and used to handling animals meant this wasn’t as scary for me as it was for Maria in the story – and the horse involved made a full recovery.

This mare and foal don’t look like either the real horse which inspired the story, nor the fictional George – but I did photograph them in the same field and they are very, very cute.