about me

I've been a freelance writer and editor of non-fiction for children forever, but in the past few years I have turned to writing fiction. It took a bit of umming and aahing before I was ready for the challenge of self-publishing, since I've been part of the traditional publishing world for a long time! I have independently published three young adult romance novels and a book of fairytale-inspired stories. I also have quite a number of manuscripts of various subjects and age ranges waiting for someone to snap them up! One of these was long-listed in the Times/Chicken House competition 2015 as well as 2016's Mslexia children's novel competition so I'm hoping another few years of writing and I'll be home and dry. I'm working on a book that takes a twelve-year-old girl back to meet her own mother in 1987. I’ve snuck in a time-travelling cat too, because who doesn’t love a pet as a key plot point!

I’ve found the community of writers invaluable in my career which has led me into various voluntary roles to support that community. Currently, I’m Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland. As a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, I was the editor of the weekly SCBWI British Isles online magazine, Words & Pictures, for six years.

I am passionate about children's fiction. For ten years or so I ran our local primary school library on a voluntary basis, running reading incentives and creative writing projects. I also wrote reviews for 1001 Children's Books to Read Before You Grow Up which was an enormous pleasure. I worked with Moat Brae, Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling, running writing workshops for children and editing a termly newsletter aimed at teachers about what’s going on in the world of children’s books.

I work part-time as a learning assistant in a local primary school, where I’ve persuaded them to let me run the library, so a good bit of my time is still book-related.