Like many authors, I have always had a flair for writing. My journey coincided with my love of reading. As we all know, the two go hand in hand. My imagination has been captured so many times by the incredible work of talented writers. I had the privilege of being taken to wonderful places and meeting lots of fascinating people through literature. I am sure you would agree it is a skill and a work of art to be able to get the attention of the reader to keep them interested. I wanted to try and do the same, so I started to note ideas I wanted to develop around forty years ago. However, I found the demands of my academic commitments at university and being a wife and mother consumed all of my time. The treadmill of life, well and truly took over when I started working full time, and sadly my time writing dwindled away.

The things I wrote about many years ago were nonsensical doodles. I remember discussing some of them with my grandmother when I was around nineteen. Apart from her being surprised at some of the things I wrote about, I made a pledge to her that one day I would write a book. I expected her to not take me seriously, but in fact, she believed I would. I have never forgotten that conversation. I wasn’t sure if I would ever return to developing the stories I wrote about back then, but what I did know is that I would one day fulfil my dream and someday become a published author.

Spending beautiful moments with our granddaughter and reducing my working hours has been the kickstart I needed to return to creative writing. I would often give her a choice of whether she wanted me to read her a story from a book or if she wanted me to tell her one without. She would often choose one without. This is when fantasies would just flow from my mind, and this is when I realised my words could capture the imagination of a child the same way mine had been when I used to read so much. I started doodling again and found that I wanted to avoid writing pure fiction. (Although, I know some of the most magnificent books are just that, and I have great respect for authors who showcase their talent in this way). I wanted to base my ideas on fact and fiction. By combining the two, I set out to create make-belief worlds where facts are built into the themes so that the reader not only enjoys the plot but learns from it as well. Mixing facts and fiction is, therefore, where my genre sits.