I started writing as a child - mainly poems, but I do recall the opening of a highly dramatic novel which I wrote when I was about ten, and which started with the heroine giving birth to a horribly disfigured child in a thunderstorm.

My main career was in nursing, but I also wrote - and published - many short stories while bringing up my four children. I trained as a Relate counsellor when my youngest child started school but have recently stopped counselling so that I can concentrate on my writing. I also give talks to reading groups.

Other interests include playing the cello, riding (I am the very lucky owner of a stunning dark bay thoroughbred gelding), and keeping up with my seven grandchildren (including nine-year-old triplets) who are an endless source of pleasure and entertainment. I am also corresponding with a prisoner on Indiana's Death Row. This is both interesting and rewarding. Most of the prisoners on Americ'a Death Row are poor (mine has difficulty finding enough emoney for stamps in order to write to me), and they are kept there for years. My pen friend has been in prison for just over a year, and his appeal - which will take at least eight years - hasn't yet started. The system is exceptionally cruel, and writing to a prisoner is one way of doing something about it (if you are interested, do email me for details. New correspndents are always needed).

One of our faovurite pastimes is visiting Corsica. We've holidayed there about fifteen times (actually, I think we've lost count). For anyone who hasn't visited this beautiful island, all I can say is, do. It's peaceful, beautiful and totally unspoilt, the food is wonderful and no-one speaks English, so it makes us practise our French.