I was intrigued to focus on a female trombone player, and to wonder why she might have picked that instrument - one more traditionally associated with male players - and what her history might be. The result was ‘The Music Room’, which weaves together a present and a past time frame, and explores the trombone player’s memories of her musical childhood and the troubled family relationships she experienced.

This short story was inspired by an architectural landmark in Liverpool, the city where I grew up, and it features dual narrators.

Inspired by the seasonal workers drawn to the Cornish coast, during the summer season, my story ‘Making Waves’ features a sassy 20-something narrator with an eye for original thinking.

Libraries are bristling with inspiration, and this story was prompted by my childhood memories of a Modernist-designed library in the Liverpool suburbs.

This short story was inspired by a chance meeting - in a car park - of three men, all strangers, but each one looking lovingly at this classic 1980s American-designed car. I was intrigued by the specific, detailed information each man possessed and shared, and their almost instant sense of brotherhood.

There are numerous landmarks I recall from Liverpool, where I grew up. Particularly memorable was a 1960s sculpture - ‘The Resurrection of Christ’ - by sculptor Arthur Dooley, projecting from the wall of a Toxteth church. I was inspired to write the story of a teenage girl, phoning her boyfriend, and arranging to meet beneath it.

Anyone familiar with the northbound M6 motorway will recognise the iconic Forton motorway service station, built in the 1960s. Memories of this structure inspired me to write a story about a fractured family, the inconsistency of memory, and a father’s complex love for his daughter, woven around a split time-frame.

This short story was inspired by my observation at the airport that everyone possesses an almost identical black suitcase - and the consequences this might bring. Into the narrative, I’ve woven a personal memory of a how-to guide from a Brownie Guide Annual on the best way to pack, which brings my narrator great comfort.