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 currently taking a break from children’s fiction to work on an adult novel while also writing some preschool narrative nonfiction picture books for Hachette - important to exercise all your writing muscles I think!

I’ve found the community of writers invaluable in my career which has led me into various voluntary roles to support that community. I was previously 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.