I was born in Warwickshire, England but my parents went to live in New Zealand when I was a young child.  My passion for adventure and storytelling began as I was privileged to play freely around the cliffs and beaches of Bucklands Beach, a suburb of Auckland.  Kids could run around freely in those days and making up, and acting out adventures was a happy pastime for me and my young friends.

 

When confined indoors I would read anything I could find and soon developed a love of history, and in particular the ancient world.  When I won two short story competitions in Primary School it didn't really register that, as well as enjoying the actual process of storytelling, others might be enjoying it too.   

 

I grew up in an atmosphere of creative expression as both parents were writers and actors.  My childhood years included accompanying Mum and Dad on tour as they refined successful careers on the British Stage and thereafter in New Zealand.  

 

When adolescence hit me, those floods of emotions and confusion coalesced into poetry and I learned how cathartic writing can be.  I became aware of the indomitable spirit of humankind.   My own emotional, mental and spiritual journey was balanced through writing.  Many, many, many times it has helped me work through problems, express feelings, and overcome grief and lost love.  Essentially, writing (and reading) has helped me find out who I am, what I believe in, and that there is something more than this mortal life we find ourselves in.

 

My first possibly publishable tales did not appear until my mid-twenties.  Marriage, children, and further education put writing on the back burner for several years, but the dream of having a book published finally came true in 2003 when Bound by Honor was accepted for publication in the USA.

 

I still don't think I am a really serious writer. I greatly admire those wonderful authors who devote their lives to writing - and it shows in their work - I just get involved in too many other things. But when I do write I love it and wonder why I don't do it every second of the day.

 

Leaving New Zealand when I was 11 to return to England was a wrench but I have since spent quite a few years of my life living in the lands of the Celts; 7 years in Scotland and 27 years in Wales.  I have ancestry in all parts of the British Isles.  Their ancient stories intrigue me.  The Britannia Chronicles has come from that fascination. 

 

And, by the way, book three of The Britannia Chronicles is in process . . .