Biography

I was born in Sydney, Australia, to an Australian mother and a British father and have many memories from a very young age. I can vividly remember sitting in my pushchair, as a toddler, feeling warm and safe as the rained splashed against the canopy. I spent many happy days searching for beautiful shells on the sea shore and swimming in the warm waters of the Northern Beaches. I experienced wonderful adventures; being out exploring all day with my friends and brothers, finding a fairy land, building dens in the bush and even laying traps for our ‘enemy’ tribes. It’s a wonder no one ever broke an ankle. I also spent many a day, up a tree, reading books such as ‘The Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton and I enjoyed writing poems and short stories, even at a young age. Those were the care free days of which the memories always make me smile.

At the age of thirteen we moved to England as my father was offered an employment opportunity which was too good to refuse. My younger brothers and I met many of our British family for the first time.

My first day at Oakdene School, in Buckinghamshire, was one to remember; the other girls stroked my long green hair and made me read in class so that they could listen to my accent. You might be wondering why my parents would send me to a new school with green hair? Well, it wasn’t their fault; it was very long and blonde and had turned a pale green after I’d swam in many pools on our trip over to the UK. Being very shy, it wasn’t an ideal start but at least I’d been accepted. I left school with eight good O levels and, although I really wanted to study art and design, I somehow ended up doing a business studies course.

Several years later my parents, along with their siblings, decided to buy a hotel in the picturesque fishing port of Brixham, Devon, and therefore when I was aged eighteen we all packed up and were on the move. I couldn’t believe how I felt when we arrived; I was alive again. I could smell the sea air and fell in love with Torbay and South Devon. I studied an HND in Hotel and Catering Management and in between studying and working, I would spend many a time at the outdoor Shoalstone sea pool or on the local beaches. At last I felt at home.

In my early twenties I moved back to Buckinghamshire for three years to take employment in a conference centre run by British Airways. I left my job as Assistant Manager to move back to Brixham and marry my boyfriend of five years. We had three lovely children; two sons and one daughter. I spent several summers cleaning chalets at the local holiday camp. I remember one summer cleaning with my two year old son around my feet and my baby daughter strapped to my chest.

My husband was a musician and would be away on tour with his band several times a year. In my thirties music and theatre seemed to run in the family and the house was often noisy and vibrant with the sounds of musical instruments and rehearsals for theatre. I spent many wonderful summers at my parents’ villa in Spain, with my best friend, Debbie, and our children, whilst the band was touring. I did, however, manage to go to some music concerts and gigs in the UK and enjoyed being a ‘Rock Chick’ for a while.

My mid- late thirties were often thought provoking and stressful times with the passing of my dear friend, Debbie, to cancer, and a close shave for myself when I fell over a cliff whilst visiting my parents in Spain for my father’s 70th birthday party. Luckily for me my fall to the rocks at the bottom was broken by the only bush growing there. Needless to say the party was postponed as I recovered in hospital. My marriage was also starting to break down and this became a time to think about my life; I realised how precious it was and how easily it could be taken from you. I found some comfort in investigating the spiritual side of myself as I had experienced several psychic happenings since being a child. I decided to study art and design and completed City and Guilds in Interior Design and gained a distinction. I enjoyed transforming a room on one weekend like the popular program ‘Changing Rooms’. I tried my hand at life drawing, water colours, sketching, pottery and jewellery making, to name but a few, as well as working part time and running a busy home.

By my mid-forties my marriage had, unfortunately, crumbled and we decided to divorce. This was an upsetting time for our family and I started to put my feelings to paper in the form of poems. This gave me a release and it reminded me how much I’d enjoyed writing in the past.

One sunny morning I woke up to brilliant rays shining onto my face and I decided there and then that it was time to get on with my life. My best friend, Helen, had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and this put a different perspective on life again. Like my dear friend, Debbie, Helen has showed courage and strength and has got on with her life whatever has been thrown at her.

I joined a local salsa class where, without any intention of doing so, I met a wonderful man and we felt like we had known each other for years. On a trip to Australia he proposed to me at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I am proud to say that he is now my husband. He has been my support and has encouraged me to go forward with my dream; a story which I started to write the morning after I’d been woken by, as it happens, a mind provoking dream.

A genuine and lovely clairvoyant, who knew nothing of my book or my dream, talked to me a few months ago about a project I was currently working on and said to me... ‘It came to you in a dream...and your dreams will come true.’