I spent most of my childhood in Cleveland and North Yorkshire where my father was a vicar. Many of my story ideas come from the rich sources of history and mythology, still very much alive in that area. I have three grown up children and now live in Whitby with my Architect husband Tom and cat Mewsli.

As a child I had little interest in writing and dreaded my teacher asking me to write a story. My main interest was drawing and painting, though I did love reading. (Favourite books were Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

When I had children of my own I started making small picture books for them, writing very simple stories to go with the illustrations. As my children grew the stories got longer, until I came to realise that I was enjoying making up stories, even more than making pictures. I then decided to work really hard at my writing and eventually managed to get some books published.

The beautiful Victorian and Edwardian photographs of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, inspired my first historical story ‘The Flither Pickers’. Since then I’ve become addicted to research for historical themes, from the Whitby and Cleveland area, and also from Sheffield and Derbyshire, close to where I used to live

My hobbies include dancing, drawing and painting