I was born in Chiswick, UK, but the family moved to Gibraltar when I was seven. Being surrounded by the sea, the fantastic nature reserve of the Rock and many relatives and friends, it was a great place to grow up! I realised early on I 'wanted to be a writer' but as everyone knows it's a notoriously difficult field to break into, and for many years it remained a hobby while I got on with the rest of life.

When I came back to the UK at eighteen it was to study Biology at King's college London. I went on to do an MSc in Information Science at the City University. By then I was already married to Eliott, and stints working at BT and then Unilever followed. When I stopped work to bring up the family, I still never stopped writing! With six boys, all born within nine years, I have to admit a lot of what I was writing (scribbling away on the back of envelopes) back then, would not stand up to any scrutiny now. None of it was wasted time, though. All writing is apprenticeship, and the more I wrote, the more at ease I became with my craft.

Apart from writing – and perhaps related to the original scientific training – I have a natural curiosity about all things metaphysical as well. I qualified in Astrology with the Faculty of Astrological Studies in London, and also later studied Medieval astrology (Horary) with a separate trainer. My first book combined interests in both writing and Astrology in a non-fiction title 'The Writer's Guide to the Zodiac.' Three novels published by Harper Collins followed, (Pandora's Box, Little Miracles, and A Sister's Gift) on the themes of Hope, Faith and Charity. My fourth book – Falling for You – examines the theme of Justice. It also touches on the topic of magic, but I really don't think that 'magic' is simply some occult practice only used by people with cauldrons/crystal balls who are in the know. I think it's all those things we don't yet understand, and maybe aren't ever going to be able to define empirically - like when our fondest dreams suddenly come true, and things like synchronicity and miracles! I think it's everything that makes us more than 'just' human, because it connects us up to our spiritual side in whatever form we wish that to take.

For me, now with five books to my name, that's a kind of magic too.