I’m Deborah, middle-aged, married, with four daughters, I live in Belfast in the North of Ireland. I left my academic career in 2022 and have been figuring out who I am ever since. And now I write….

What do I write about?

I write about leaving. When I reached that stage called midlife, I started asking questions about my relationship with various institutions such as motherhood, career, and the church. I left various things, not just places, but also beliefs I used to have. For most of my life, I did what I was told. I measured myself on being a good mother, a good employee, a good person. Now, I question the impact that years of conforming had on my life and the difference that leaving those various things has made. I tend to talk about my faith regularly in my writing, but I do not write exclusively about it. It just informs a lot of who I am. I process my (internal and external) journey through my writing and write on a range of topics. I am also a fairly normal person! I like good books, good television, travel, food, fashion and nice things so you’ll find recommendations around these in my writing too. I don’t write self-help. You are unlikely to find any advice in my writing. All I do is share my experiences. 

I grew up and still live in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Home, my husband and my children are very important to me. They feature regularly in my writing!

How did I get here?

Having worked in higher education for almost twenty years, in 2021, I was restless and stuck and I took a one-year career break. Nine months in, I made the gut-based decision to resign from my job. I didn’t know where I was going or who I was going to be, but I knew I didn’t want to go back to my old life and the professional identity I had there. 

As a mum of four girls, juggling work, home, church, and other commitments for many years, I found my identity was mainly based on the roles I fulfilled for others. I struggled to get what I needed for myself on a daily basis never mind achieve my full potential (whatever that is!). I thought my career would provide fulfilment. I was reluctant to give it up and so I battled hard to hang on to it alongside the demands of motherhood. But I always felt resentful and that something was missing from my life. In many ways, I was probably missing from my own life. I didn’t really have my own story and my own fully formed identity. I was just a bit-part in everyone else’s story. And then I started writing….

Some Reviews...

"Deborah, this is gloriously funny and absolutely on point".
"Fabulous Deborah and thank you for sharing an honest account of your life at the moment".
"This is bloody brilliant. Hits the nail on the head".

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