Anne Ludlow

The Gentleness of Steel has been many years in the making. Having the ability to retire early meant I finally had time to fulfil my lifetime ambition to write novels. I've had a bizarre life; rickets as a child and a mother with paranoid schizophrenia, a ballet scholarship, qualified as a personal fitness trainer and worked as a bus driver, cleaner and many other menial jobs. Lived in Srinagar, Dubai, Sharjah and Tehran. Ran a fashion business selling high end into Harrods and boutiques the length of the country, including my own store. Marriage, children, divorce, single parenthood, happy marriage and now grandchildren. All of this makes a writer's soul fertile. As I soon as I retired I began to write. I wrote my first three chapters and read them back. Oh dear, they were awful. Being an all or nothing person I embarked upon many writing courses, at least ten thousand hours of practice, lots of rejections, followed all the advice and edited, edited, edited. I am pleased with the outcome. Although, of course, there is always room for improvement. The Gentleness of Steel is my first novel, it will not be my last. My head is bursting with stories to be told. I couldn't possibly retire to the roses. I shall write until my demise.