Lennox Morrison
A lifelong love of words, and a can-do attitude
At nine years old I invested in a pack of felt pens and declared myself editor-in-chief of ‘Family Fun’ magazine. When not writing the weekly serial, I pestered my eight readers for opinion pieces and fashion sketches.
Born in Scotland, into a clan whose symbol is driftwood, I longed to discover the world. Training as a translator gained me a medal from the Royal Society of Arts, membership of the Institute of Linguists, a top job abroad – and confinement to an office.
To escape I entered talent contests for new journalists, won prizes and started writing for newspapers and magazines. In an award-winning career I’ve been on staff at the Daily Mail and Scotland on Sunday. I’ve also researched and presented a travel series for Scottish Television and was associate producer for daytime star Lorraine Kelly.
Just before turning forty, with help from a coach, I finally began to write a novel. Two years later, when Reinventing Tara arrived in bookshops, I burst into tears of joy. By then I’d dropped my first name, Margaret, in favour of my middle name. This debut novel and the next, Second Chance Tuesday, met with sparkling reviews and an invitation to contribute to the best selling short story collection Scottish Girls About Town.
At successive Edinburgh International Book Festivals my talks on how to reinvent yourself as a novelist sold out. Meeting novice writers led naturally to mentoring and I found motivating and supporting others to be inspiring.
Now based in France, I’m a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and member of the Society of Authors, at work on two further novels. As a personal coach I find that my own writing informs and refreshes my highly practical approach to bringing out the best in my clients.