When I started reading books to my son he soon became terrified of the stories about dragons, and ogres, and magic, and in particular one about a dream maker who whispered in the ears of sleeping children. He didn't sleep for weeks. So I started writing stories for him about things he was interested in, and had soon written my first novel about the war between red and grey squirrels. I knew then I wanted to write about the natural world, and wrote another children's novel which deals with bullying in the animal kingdom. I later teamed up with an illustrator and together we produced a children's picture book, about a dancing hippo and the story is about not being afraid to be different. All of my children's stories deal with life issues such as bullying, racism, and the importance of teamwork.
I joined several peer writing groups, reading other writers' works and critiquing as well as submitting my own work for critique. I also took a creative writing course with the Open University which helped me to become more organised in my writing.
I then wrote an adult novel, a crime/thriller, The Black Widows. My next adult novel, Curse of the Dogwood, was published as an ebook in June 2014. I have just completed two further novels which have been submitted to my agent in New Zealand who is also now representing my children's novels.
I spent twenty-five years working in English law, always day-dreaming of the time I might be able to give up work and just write. Now that is what I am doing. I have had seven published novels, and working on two more, with a few more ideas swimming about inside my head.