I was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and everyone asks me if I attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College. The answer is… yes. But on a substantial scholarship, while living in a one bedroom flat with my divorced mum. This kickstarted a life of contrasts.

I studied English at St John’s College, Oxford, and Russian Studies at University College London. After a few temp and secretarial jobs I found my way to working in-house at first Egmont and then Hachette Children’s Books. I went freelance in 2013, and I divide my time between freelancing for many of the UK’s foremost children’s publishers and providing a range of services to individual clients.

At the time when Russia mounted its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in spring 2022, a Kyiv friend and I had been planning a road trip to hang out with her friends in Mariupol. Obviously that didn’t happen. Instead, I supported them first by sending money to help them rescue and support young people from the occupied territories, and then by travelling to Ukraine myself to join in their humanitarian work, publicise it and raise money. The rest is not, as they say, history, but an ongoing mission.

As my laptop is my office, I can and do work anywhere. At present I spend about two thirds of my time at home in London, and a third travelling in Ukraine. You might be thinking, that’s quite the balancing act, and it is! You can read some more about how on earth I manage it here. And please consider hiring me, via this site or on Reedsy, as it’s what makes my volunteer work possible.

When not embroiled in activism, writing or earning a living, I make time for my beloved husband and eat a lot of chocolate.