I worked for the University of Cumbria for many years but now write freelance. I set a lot of my stories in the English Lake District where I live. My novel, Middlewitch, is based on life in a small village, although naturally there are no witches here - as far as I know.  The second book in the series, Middlewitch Mayhem, has just been published - June 2011. I enjoy writing all kinds of stories but my favourite genre is humour - particularly satire. Politicians, celebrities, and bank managers make wonderful targets. I really admire Terry Pratchett and enjoy all his Discworld novels.  He combines humour and fantasy with astute social and political comment. I would love to have written some of his books. I write stories and articles for British and American magazines, but I'm concentrating on novels and anthologies at the moment. All genres and lengths appeal to me - and they're so much more fun than work! When I'm not writing, I love walking the hills and playing with our many animals!    

I've just been awarded The Benjamin Franklin House 2009 Literary Prize, in association with The Daily Telegraph. I've also won prizes in The Twyford Writers Competition, The Mary Gornall Memorial Award, the JBWB Competition, and The People's Friend Story Contest. I was highly commended in the Mere Literary Festival Awards, Sunpenny Publishing Competition, and Radio Heartbeat Competition, and I received the Editor's Choice Award from The Absent Willow Review.
Magazine publications include The Weekly News, The People's Friend, Mused (Bella On-Line), The New Writer, The Absent Willow Review, Sniplits, Space and Time (next issue), Big Pulp, Glassfire Magazine, Abandoned Towers, Expanded Horizons, The Ranfurly Review, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Emerald Tales, The Bracelet Charm, Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine, Everyday Fiction,and Stories that Lift.
My novels, Middlewitch and Middlewitch Mayhem have been published by Drollerie Press, and my mini mystery, A Quiet Place in the Country, has been published by Wild Child Publishing.
My stories also appear in recent anthologies, including The Absent Willow Review Anthology, The Out of Line Human Rights Anthology 2009, Hoi Polloi 111, and Sunpenny Publishing Competitions Antholog, 50 Stories for Pakistan and Stories for Sendai.