I come from Cornwall, from the far west, near Lands End where my family has lived for generations. I’ll always love this part of the world, and despite living for many years in the south-east, I always knew I would return home. When I did, it was not to the very far west, but to a little waterside village in mid-Cornwall, called Flushing. A ferry takes us across the water to the main town of Falmouth far quicker than a bus or car. It is on an estuary of the river Fal and flows out into the sea. I love to walk along the coast.

I started out wanting to be an actress, and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. I acted for several years, but it’s a difficult life, and a travelling life - I must have toured to most places in Britain, and some in Europe. When I married and had my two sons, travelling became too difficult. So I went to university as a mature student, and subsequently became an English and Drama teacher. This combined my two loves, the theatre and books. I was head of Drama for about 14 years in an independent school in Cornwall, but I wanted to write. Finally I decided I had to commit to it. I left teaching and started writing. To begin with it was mainly poetry and short stories, but then I concentrated on children’s books. My first book was published, by David Fickling, in 2007. I am currently working on another book for the same age range, and two books for young adults.

The love of theatre has never gone away either. I have been a founder member of a touring theatre company and I write and direct plays for them. I still am involved in drama for young people, watching, teaching, examining and encouraging them to get involved in stories. Now, however, I make up the stories, and perhaps that is the most exciting thing of all.