I was born a long time ago on a lush green island in the River Nile within sight of the Pyramids. We left Egypt months later and I grew up in England. But I often wonder whether that was why, as a student, and after driving the full length of Europe, I felt so intensely that I had come home when I first saw the vivid blue Mediterranean at Platamon in Greece? Or could there be some other connection?

My BA was in the History of Drama, which was what prompted the drive to Greece. But in fact I became, and later trained as, an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher. I’ve lived and worked in Ireland, Greece, Belgium, Serbia and Zimbabwe. Now, after 45 years teaching, training teachers, and commissioning and publishing teaching materials, I write fiction and short scripts. My short novels, Nelson’s Dream and Dragons’ Eggs (for Cambridge University Press), both won the Language Learner Literature award for their years of publication. Lately though, my focus has been on writing historical novels set in Ancient Greece for general readers. Apart from wanting to tell interwoven stories of young people growing up and how mysteries eventually reveal themselves, I began The Connection Trilogy to examine and reveal why, and perhaps how, some people hide much of what they think and feel.

I speak modern Greek and basic French, and live mainly in Cumbria, UK, with my second husband, a retired diplomat. My two adult children live in Athens, my husband’s family lives in London and New York, and our extended families and friends are scattered across the planet. 

Weather permitting, I cycle or garden. Indoors, I sometimes sew or knit, but never cook. I may know that Plato (or his slave) sliced boiled eggs with hairs, but I do not know how to make a souffle, as my family would enthusiastically agree.