From an early age I had a vivid imagination and created stories full of larger than life characters and their adventures. I took the first step towards becoming a writer when I was eight years old, creating and performing in a school play which was a rather surreal version of Coppélia – and quickly realised I preferred writing to acting!
Always an avid reader, I discovered the novels of Georgette Heyer in my teens and was captivated by the Regency period. When I began to write historical romance in my spare time, I used the exhilarating Regency era as my inspiration.
I live in a village on the edge of the Staffordshire countryside and, apart from writing, I enjoy walks in the country, visits to the theatre (if I can combine both on a visit to nearby Stratford-on-Avon, so much the better :0) ) and scouring second hand bookshops for Regency reference books to add to my collection.
I am a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Historical Novel Society.
Five interesting things about me:
- I have been a school governor for eight years.
- I’m a fan of the rock band AC/DC.
- I have a shorthand speed of 140 words per minute.
- Even though they’re harmless, I’m scared of woodlice.
- As well as Regency prints and books, I collect Kipling handbags and quirky or interesting teapots.
Quick fire question round:
Tea or coffee:
Tea.
Favourite drink:
Winter - damson gin, Summer - Pimm’s No. 1 cup.
Favourite colour:
Blue.
Favourite dish:
Oh, tough one! I’d have to go for Delia Smith’s Chicken with sherry vinegar and tarragon sauce or Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi.
Favouite dessert:
Cheesecake and anything with custard.
Favourite chocolate:
Lindor, Thornton’s Viennese Truffles or Hotel Chocolat Just Truffles.
Best Quality:
Kindness.
Worst defect:
Leaving things in the wrong place and not being able to find them afterwards.
Favourite literary hero:
Sir Waldo Hawkridge from The Nonesuch.
Manuscripts - longhand or type?:
Type.
Best ideas come when I’m:
Lying in a warm bubble bath, visiting historic houses or people watching.
Planner or seat-of-the-pants writer:
Bit of both.
My family think my writing:
Keeps me out of trouble.
Favourite writing snack:
Chocolate for inspiration, grapes for the waistline!
Fantasy dinner party guests:
Jane Austen, Duke of Wellington, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Sir David Attenborough, George Bryan (Beau) Brummell, Maria Fitzherbert, Georgette Heyer, Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare, Stephen Fry, P.G. Wodehouse, Spike Milligan … how many more can I have? Music provided by George Frederic Handel and AC/DC.
