I was born in Co Down, beside the sea, (which is no surprise to anyone who has ever read my stories or poems), but my parents were from the wilds of Armagh and Fermanagh, either side of the Monaghan border. I'm a real cross-border body, with relations on both sides, on both sides. There were 13 in my mother's family, and 11 in my father's and they all had plenty of children - I can't count my first cousins - but since my parents had married in Belfast and moved to Co Down we lived far away from any family.

I began to write when my children were still young and In 1992 I had a book for children published, The Silver Tea-Set. I have now partially re-written and published this book on line myself, retitled, "Ghosts in Trouble". A second one followed, Felix Finds Out! Around this time I joined a writers group where everyone wrote short stories so I had a go at that and was successful in that my stories won competitions and were published in magazines but I couldn't get a publisher to look at a collection. I have now published the collection on line, Woman with Doll & Other Stories, and also a poetry collection, The Red Petticoat.