As a child I loved the stories of Sir Walter Scott, his tales of honour and chivalry bound up with the history of Scotland both inspired and enchanted me. Stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur also stirred my imagination and I acted out the scenes with enthusiasm alongside the other local village children. These stories still excite me, but I also love the history and legends of Britain, and other countries, and it is these that I want to share with you alongside the fictional characters who carry the tales.

Much of my childhood was spent surrounded by the high mountains of the Scottish Highlands, I had my pony to ride and my dog to walk and a feisty cat which I remember climbing up high in the storeroom, where she decided to have her kittens, to take a peak. Then there were my father’s, motor boat and rowing boats, and swimming in the loch at all times of the year in a wetsuit, and the walks along the shore looking at a the various sea creatures, and the walks up the hills and mountains surrounding our home. A childhood rich in the freedom to explore, but also one plentifully supplied with books builds a rich imagination and curiosity – so it is no wonder that I feel the urge to tell stories.

Where I am now living, in a large city, with my husband, two of my three children and our cheeky and opinionated Manchester Terrier, is a huge contrast to my early years in the countryside. Life in the City is also fascinating, though instead of the herons on the shore, we have parakeets shrieking joyfully across the sky, foxes patrolling the streets and screaming their night call, and so many birds and flowers everywhere despite the urban landscape.

I started writing the Dragonseyrie series after I ran out of Georgette Heyer books to comfort myself and numb my mind after the death of my father. The novel started out as an attempt to write something similar to a regency romance, and then it grew a life of its own!