I was brought up in Alkrington Garden Village, situated 41/2 miles north of Manchester. Apart from having being home to comedians Steve Coogan and Bernard Manning, Alkrington doesn’t have any particular claim to fame. I’m not sure it has any particular claim to being a village either. Defying my primary school headmaster’s prediction that I would definitely be a maths/scientist, I graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in English and subsequently completed a research degree on Henry James from the University of Manchester. I have not been able to face reading that author since. I was lured to Melbourne with the promise of pavlovas and endless sunny days, and assurances that huntsman spiders aren’t that big. (They are.) I had two children and taught English and French for many years. I wrote my first play for the Parent Drama Group at my sons’ school and have subsequently written a number of plays and short stories. I write in a wide variety of styles, from quirky comedies to darker psychological dramas. I am now active in community theatre as a writer, director and actor. I can also be found Front of House, slapping paint on sets or occasionally lurking in the wings as assistant stage manager. My son told me he’d love to read a novel written by his mum. I have now obliged (twice) with the psychological mystery, 'Peter Stone', and the domestic noir 'The Close'.