I'm an international bestselling children's author based in London, UK and I write for children from ages 3-11. I have two boys, George and Nick (all grown up now!) who inspired me to write when they were younger.

In my first children's book, The Secret Lake, Stella (aged 11) and Tom (aged 8), while trying to find their elderly neighbour's missing dog, discover a time tunnel and secret lake that take them to their home and the children living there 100 years in the past. It hit the UK bestseller lists in 2018-19, seven years after publication, and has now been enjoyed in print by over 400,000 children and is in translation in nine countries. Needless to say, it really makes me smile that our children still love a traditional adventure story!

'Return to the Secret Lake' (for ages 8-12 and twice the length of book one) finally came out in March 2022. It was such a joy to reconnect with the characters again (they had been waiting very patiently!). Early feedback has been wonderful, which is a huge relief, as book one was hard act to follow!

For ages 7-10 I have 'Eeek! The Runaway Alien', about a soccer-mad alien who runs away to Earth for the World Cup :-). Eeek! has black and white illustrations throughout and continues to prove a huge hit with boys and girls at my school visits. If you have a reluctant reader in the house — or kids who love fast-paced stories with humour — don't miss Eeek! It has a great twist too :)

Also for ages 7-10 is 'Walter Brown and the Magician's Hat' (2016), in which magical mayhem follows when Walter inherits a magician's hat from his Great-grandpa Horace on his 10th birthday The hat, he soon discovers, has special powers and his cat 'Sixpence' is no ordinary cat...

'Henry Haynes and the Great Escape' (2014), is another fun and fast-paced illustrated chapter book, this time for ages 6-8, and is about a boy who falls inside his library book after complaining that it's boring. Key characters that Henry gets to meet are Gordon (a very smelly gorilla with a zoo escape plan) and Brian (a very bossy boa!). The kids love mimicking their voices!

For ages 4-8 I have 'The Tell-Me Tree', which gently invites children to talk about feelings — whether happy, sad or anywhere in between — through writing, drawing or conversation. It is now in regular use in UK homes and classrooms, and has been praised by parents, teachers and children's charities for helping children talk about feelings as part of everyday conversation. 'The Tell-Me Tree' comes with links to free downloadable activity sheets for use again and again at home or in school.

My rhyming colour picture books for ages 3-5 are also extremely popular with the little ones. 'Ferdinand Fox's Big Sleep' (2013), is based on the true story of a fox that once fell asleep in my garden, while 'Ferdinand Fox and the Hedgehog' (2018) introduces Hatty and her baby son Ed who meets Ferdinand while out playing one night. The story is followed by eight pages of photos and fun facts about foxes and hedgehogs, including how we can all help protect hedgehogs who may come into our gardens to find food.

MY WRITING LIFE...

In 2010 I took a much needed sabbatical from my day job of business writing. During that time I revisited several stories I had drafted 10 years earlier, when the children were toddlers/babes in arms. One of these was The Secret Lake, which had sat hidden in a box all of that time. I had previously sent it out to no avail but this time decided to take matters into my own hands. The rest is history, and the other stories followed!

I went back to work for five more years after The Secret Lake came out, but since 2016 have pared back my consultancy work and have chosen mainly to write for children. I regularly go into schools and have had many book signings in local branches of Waterstones in London over the years. I also do regular school visits over Zoom at home and abroad. Visit my author site for more detail if you'd l