I'm married and have two grown-up sons. Our older son and his wife live with us, our younger son is living and working in Hamburg with his fiancée. We have two cats and sometimes I wish we didn'tReading
I've always read voraciously and loved science fiction above all. I grew up on Asimov and his robotic laws, Arthur C Clarke and trips to the moon, and I read the great old ones like HG Wells Time Machine and Stapledon's Last and First Men. It was all very male dominated but that was how life was at the time.
I also liked CS Lewis and read everything by him, starting with The Magician's Nephew which was a particular favourite. When I was older I loved Lord of the Rings, having had The Hobbit read to me at school by a teacher I was in love with.
I still repeatedly come back to science fiction as my first love. I've discovered Neal Stephenson and I've also found that there are now women authors writing strong women characters. Tanya Huff's Valor series is my favourite and Elizabeth Moon's book Remnant Population is also one that I love. Lexi Revellian also has a kickass heroine in Torbrek and the Dragon Variation.
I also liked CS Lewis and read everything by him, starting with The Magician's Nephew which was a particular favourite. When I was older I loved Lord of the Rings, having had The Hobbit read to me at school by a teacher I was in love with.
I still repeatedly come back to science fiction as my first love. I've discovered Neal Stephenson and I've also found that there are now women authors writing strong women characters. Tanya Huff's Valor series is my favourite and Elizabeth Moon's book Remnant Population is also one that I love. Lexi Revellian also has a kickass heroine in Torbrek and the Dragon Variation.
How I started writing
I found Nanowrimo in 2004. Previously I'd dabbled a bit: I wrote a story about a woman who leaves a fundamentalist church (now sadly lost) and a story about a woman who goes into a fantasy world. That one never got finished as I lost the plot. I daydream about writing a publishable novel but in reality I'm an amateur and writing has to fit in with my other hobbies, like crochet and making window clings.Jobs I've done
- Au pair to five children in France
- Language assistant in French primary school
- Care assistant in a Jewish home for the elderly
- Executive Officer in the Office of Fair Trading
- Full time Mum
- Primary school teacher
- Counsellor
- Counselling manager in a primary school
- Deputy Leader at after-school club
What I'm doing now
Currently I'm retired and due to my health issues and Covid, mostly avoiding public places except for cycling and walking.
