I was born in Liverpool, but at the age of two weeks I travelled in the guard’s van of a steam train to start life in a small village in south Lancashire.  It was an idyllic rural childhood which sowed the seeds of my love of nature.  Those were the days when children could be out all day climbing trees, leaping across streams or making mud pies with no-one shouting ‘be careful’. 

That childhood came crashing down when my father died suddenly when I was 11 years old.  That prompted a return to Liverpool and the start of a very different life when growing up had to happen quickly.

My career path has been one of many twists and turns.  My first career was as a paediatric nurse, but a spinal injury ended that career. It was also the beginning of a lifetime of chronic pain.   Eventually, I went to university as a mature student, a challenging path that led on to a wonderful 25 year career as a soil scientist.

I have loved reading and writing for as long as I can remember.  Life as a soil scientist involved writing reports, articles and scientific papers.  I enjoyed this, but something was missing.  I discovered that missing spark when I retired and have not stopped writing creatively since then.  That spark has inflamed my creativity. My writing enables me to merge my love of weaving words with my passion for the natural world.  I just love it! I’m living the dream.