An ageing film star collapses on a sunlit pavement. An invisible office worker boards a storm-tossed ferry, uncertain whether she'll ever return. A woman who loves women struggles during the dictatorship. A knife-grinder's reedy melody drifts up an Alfama street, awakening a lost love. A lawyer's obsession burns down his life. Two mice get spectacularly drunk on ginjinha cherries. A date in Sintra is flawless ? perhaps too flawless. A wanderer seeks out a mystical well. A writer finds that an empty page can be a new beginning. And a chance encounter over a key unlocks a sweet Christmas.

From miradouros to metro tunnels, these tales by a chorus of local voices will take you on an unforgettable journey across the city of Lisbon.

I am a travelling author who currently lives in Lisbon, after stints in London, Johannesburg, and Bangkok. My ambition is to publish 100 books. It's a challenge I decided upon after I'd completed my 33rd book. Or I should say, my 33rd first draft. I am currently working at getting all of those first drafts into a publishable state. This is taking considerably longer than I'd anticipated! Especially as I keep getting distracted by ideas for yet more books.

I am an introvert and I think that makes me quite sensitive to overstimulation. I find rollercoaster, action-packed blockbusters too stressful to read. This probably influences my writing which reviewers have described as gentle. I might describe what I write as easy reading or slow fiction. They are the kind of books that are perfect to curl up with on the sofa on a rainy day or take to the park to read under a tree. They are feel-good stories where good triumphs over evil and the girl gets the boy with some bumps along the way.