My mother is Irish and my father is English. I was born in Cirencester, and although I moved away for a while, I have been back in Gloucestershire for over twenty years, living in a village near to the town of my birth.

As soon as I learned to read I wanted to write stories. I was always telling tall tales to my two younger sisters, and I still have a ‘newspaper’ I wrote about my older brother’s friends, including Colin Flooks, who later became the famous rock drummer Cozy Powell.

There was always music in our house. My brother played piano, my youngest sister played piano and cello, my middle sister and I strummed guitars and we all sang. Sometimes we used to be able to persuade our Father to play the piano too. He played things like 'Run Rabbit Run', and brilliant boogie-woogie! I used to make up silly songs about members of my family for special birthdays and visits.

I also used to write plays, and one about Charles the Second was performed by my class at primary school. My favourite lessons were always English, History and Art. I was terrible at Maths and French!

After leaving school I still wanted to be a writer, but none of the stories and articles I wrote got published, so I went to the Roehampton Institute in London, to be a teacher instead. I only lasted a year, and then left.

I kept writing short stories, none of which were published, and one long, very bad novel that still lies at the bottom of my filing cabinet. And I had a variety of jobs, none of them anything to do with writing. I worked in a china shop, a pub, and as a DJ. I sold junk antiques (I couldn’t afford proper ones!) made Venetian masks, and started an employment agency.

Then I started a bookselling business, which sold books to schools. It did really well, but after several years I got so annoyed with selling other people’s books I started grumbling to my family about still being a frustrated writer. My youngest son suggested I wrote a book for him, so I did. It was an historical fantasy, based on the old farmhouse we live in, and the ancient standing stones at Avebury. I loved doing the research, and turning it into a fantastical story. That story became Sebastian’s Quest, and was published by Barry Cunningham, the person who discovered JK Rowling. I sold my business and concentrated on writing. After half a lifetime I’d finally got to do what I’d always wanted!

Now, I share the house with my husband, Paul, and son Seb, as well as Jack the dog. I work in a sunny room, overlooking the garden, and work on my writing most days. On my days off I like to visit old houses and castles, museums and art galleries. It’s not just seeing old things I like. It’s just as much fun having tea in a cafe and people watching! Apart from that, I love spending time with my family, whether it’s supporting Seb’s band, Stitch, or playing with my little grand-daughter or catching up with my older two children, Gavin and Rebecca. And when I go on holiday I don’t bother with taking too many different things to wear. I have to leave room for the most important things in my luggage, lots and lots of books to read!