WRITING MY OWN STORY

Elizabeth Cooke, 72, first appeared in Woman's Own as a competition winner and now she's a bestselling novelist

- WORDS: LOUISE BATY. PHOTO: KATE MCGREGOR-JACKSON

Growing up in rural North Yorkshire, I kept myself busy with paper and pen. 'Writing stories again, Liz?' my mum smiled in 1968 when I was 15, as I scribbled dialogue and plot twists, dreaming of becoming an author.

But fast-forward to autumn 1986, aged 33, living on a military base in Germany with my husband, a civil servant, and our daughter Kate, one, I no longer had time to write.

Having a cup of tea with another mum, a painter, we agreed to babysit for one another for two hours each week, giving us each a small window for creativity.

By chance, on the table as we chatted that day, was a copy of Woman's Own, and I read about the magazine's writing competition, with readers encouraged to submit fictional stories.