Born in Lancashire, Patricia grew up in Worcestershire, but now lives in Devon and is married with four children. She taught English and Drama for 25 years, but resigned from teaching in 1982, to work alongside and support her husband, Alan Cotton, in his career as a professional artist.  In her late sixties she fulfilled an early ambition to go to Drama School, gaining an MA in Acting and Theatre Practices at Rose Bruford College.

Patricia says

 “I have been writing fiction for well over thirty years, for my own pleasure, because I love to write.  I had three novels on the go, but none of them at a stage where I had ever thought about publishing.  Then I finally finished my first novel “Heartbreak Baby” and decided I would let members of my family read it.   It was the first time I had shown anyone my writing and I was truly amazed by the response I got from my nearest and dearest. My husband, Alan said, he couldn’t stop reading it  - it was such a page-turner.  My elder daughter took it on holiday to Greece and read it during the first four days, saying she so enjoyed it. It was such a moving story and it should be sent to publishers.  My niece said,

“I’ve just finished reading your wonderful novel.... its made me feel so many different things.  I was moved and sad and joyful sometimes all at the same time.... it was beautiful. It could absolutely be a film!!”

I was thrilled, of course, but that was just my loving family, and they could possibly be biased.  Publishers get hundreds of manuscripts every week and can very quickly sort out those that haven’t a hope from those they feel have a good chance of success.  Nevertheless, I decided to have a go and began to research publishers who were inviting authors to submit their manuscripts online.

I chose Pegasus Publishing and uploaded my biography, a synopsis and finally the completed manuscript.  Then, on the 21^st April 2023, I pressed “Submit”! There, I’d done it. They told me it could be up to twelve weeks before I received a reply.

On 6^th June just six weeks after submitting my manuscript, I opened my emails and saw a reply from Pegasus Publishing in my inbox. I opened it and found it was from the Commissioning Editor, telling me that she was pleased to inform me that ‘Heartbreak Baby” had been accepted for publication.  I was absolutely elated, having braced myself for many rejections, before, finding a publisher willing to accept my novel for publication. I accepted their offer to publish, the contract duly arrived and I signed it. “Heartbreak Baby” is now on the way to being published.