About Me

Originally from Glasgow, I now live in the remotest outback of southern France with my husband and our children where we run a retreat and organize holidays that include creative writing. After studying French at Aberdeen University, I spent a year in Japan teaching English to well-behaved school children, then worked for 10 years as a journalist in Glasgow with badly-behaved colleagues. Lesser but equally entertaining jobs have included being a Pizza Hut waitress, cinema usherette, shop assistant, au-pair, interpreter, language tutor and pressing fliers for dodgy Spanish timeshares onto British tourists.

I started writing (very bad) poetry, like many people, in my teens then forgot all about it as a young adult caught up in the heady world of the print media. I only took up reading and writing poetry again once I had stopped penning articles for a living and my youngest daughter had started school full-time.

I have been lucky enough to win a few prizes for my poetry in that time, including The Frogmore Poetry Prize 2011, also 1st prizes in The New Writer Poetry Competition (Collection category) 2010, TNW Poetry Competition (Single Poem category) 2009 and Envoi International Poetry Competition 2009. I was runner-up in Wigtown Book Festival Poetry Competition 2011 and 2nd prize-winner in Agenda Poetry Competition 2011, Kent and Sussex Open Poetry Competition 2011 and Ilkley Literature Festival Poetry Competition 2010.

I like nothing better than sitting around with an endless supply of tea, in front of a good view or a log fire, with a notepad and pen. Nothing of course except for chocolate.