I was born in England, live in Edinburgh, and love the islands of Scotland, especially Orkney.
I’ve had various careers, (some more enjoyable than others), but a move in 1996 to Durham gave me the opportunity to fulfil a life-long dream: to study for a degree in English Literature. I went on to become the Assistant Senior Tutor for my college. This involved interviewing potential students and then helping them navigate the occasionally turbulent waters of their degree courses. With my colleagues, Jenny Hobbs (Principal) and Dr Gill Boughton (Vice-Principal), I am proud to say that many students were saved from drowning (metaphorically).
However, to reassure the readers of ‘Bug’, my first novel, not everything in the novel is based on experience. All characters and events are fictitious. I have invented a university and a city that may resemble Durham, but exists only in a parallel universe.
I studied creative writing at the University of Edinburgh and took a Curtis Brown Creative course and then became part of their Writers’ Studio. I have written a number of short stories and won the ‘Dragon’s Pen’ award from The Glasgow Women’s Library for my story ‘Colour’ (published on this site).
One of my strongest motivations is the desire to break down the walls and barriers between people of different nations, creed, colour or sexuality.