Well . . . ! I live between the Highlands of Scotland — the most beautiful seaside village of Plockton, and the French village of Collioure — again, such a beautiful village on the Mediterranean in Roussillon, French Catalonia. I fell in love with Collioure, and have built my own home there, in the heart of the village community. I speak fluent French, much of which was learned in the bars of Aix-en-Provence, where I studied for a year during my degree studies. I still have a slight ‘Midi’ accent when I speak French.
For most of my life I’ve worked in education — teaching English and French in Africa, the Arabian Gulf and Papua New Guinea, and then coming closer to home to head up the International Department for a College in Scotland. Most recently I worked at CERN, where the Large Hadron Collider is pushing forward the boundaries of science, and I was Head of the UK Government’s Liaison Office there. I left there in 2013 and now devote most of my time to my writing.
I started writing seriously in 2006, and the Catalonia trilogy was born from my life in France and my fascination with the troubled history of the Catalan regions of France and Spain. Daughter of Catalonia was published in 2014, Autumn in Catalonia in 2015, and the final book in the trilogy, Mediterranean Summer, in May 2017.
My fourth book, Tapestry of War, was published in spring 2018 in a worldwide deal with Allison and Busby, my London publishers. I am currently hard at work on my fifth novel.
I was widowed ten years ago, but have a wonderful family — two brilliant adult children, and an adorable father who keeps me up to date on the gossip in my Highland village when I’m not there!
And of course wonderful friends, many of whom have helped me on my way to publication.