Colette Coen has twice been shortlisted for the Scottish Book Trust’s prestigious New Writer’s Award. In 2013 she won the Waterstones’ Crime in the City Competition and has regularly been published online and in print. Her first novel, All the Places I’ve Ever Been, and three short story collections are available on Amazon. She has been a librarian and literacy lecturer, but now works in a supermarket to allow time and head-space for writing.
It’s a daft thing to be proud of – knowing where things go, but I was good at it and it was useful working in a supermarket. Customers didn’t really appreciate it – they thought everyone should be able to find them what they wanted, no matter how obscure it was – quinoa anyone? But my colleagues knew I was the one to come to when their handsets sent them to the wrong shelf. ‘I’ll show you. They moved it last week.’