I had a happy and contented childhood growing up in East Sussex and Scotland. I went to school, firstly at Bodiam Manor, where we would go on nature rambles down to the medieval Castle at Bodiam which ignited my love of history. I then went to St Leonards-Mayfield School where I learnt a lot although this was not reflected in my grades when I left school. The inspiration for my stories come from everyday life, from the experiences that we go through, the challenges that come our way and from my travels around the world. From trekking up the Amazon, watching the sunrise at Machu Picchu, watching snakes crossing the road in front of me in northern Queensland, going on camel safari in the Indian desert, watching amazing thunderstorms over the ocean, cruising down the Mekong River, swimming with horses in the sea, snorkelling in Bali, helping to build a new school building for the Maasai Mara in Tanzania or just simply watching the bluebells grow in Scotland in springtime; I have been very fortunate to experience some of the incredible wonders that the world has to offer and lucky to meet some very inspirational people. I also find airports and London buses a great source of material. All this fires my imagination and I love nothing more than to escape from reality for a few moments (or hours) and daydream. My travelling, and indeed much else in my life thus far, has been funded by me working as a secretary/personal assistant in various different jobs around central London. I have worked in some great industries – the hotel industry and heritage sector being but two of them - but I have also had jobs that have bored me rigid but I am not going to reveal which ones they were. My bosses while kind, were long suffering! When I am not travelling, working or thinking upon a new story, I also get a lot of pleasure from baking cakes and biscuits for my family and friends, making and altering clothes, reading books on history – especially the medieval, Tudor and Stuart eras - and I enjoy the self-discipline and freedom that dancing, pilates and yoga have to offer. As for my dislikes, these include the filling in of endless forms, cricket, white van man and people who talk loudly on their mobiles while travelling on the bus. On a more serious note, I do some volunteer work for a well known cancer charity helping to raise funds not only for research into cures for the different cancers but also helping to provide support for those who become carers of loved ones suffering from cancer. On a lighter note, I volunteer one Saturday a month at one of London’s lesser known tourist attractions – an oasis of calm in the centre of a busy city – and explain the stories from the history of the building to visitors and (hopefully) inspire them to find out more about the people who, once upon a time, lived in this great city.