Q.     What made you decide to be a writer?

A.     Writing becomes an obsession. It takes over. I wrote my first novel when my children were little long before the days of computers. It's probably still languishing at the back of a cupboard somewhere. Writing took a bit of a backseat for awhile when I went back to work fulltime but I won a short story competition and joined a writers' group and caught the writing bug in earnest.

Q.     Do you wait for inspiration or do you have a set routine?

A.     I wish! When the writing flows it's really great but much of the time it's a question of knuckling down and getting on with it. There are days when you ask yourself, 'Do I really want to do this?'

Q.     So what makes you carry on?

A.      Writing has its rewards - winning competitions, holding your novel in your hand and seeing copies of your book on the shelves in the bookshop. You expect family and friends to like your book but when strangers come up and tell you how much they enjoyed it, it gives you a real buzz. That makes it all worthwhile. I received the first copies of 'All in the Mind' three days before I went on holiday on a river cruise. I put a copy in the ship's library. One of the passengers recognised my name and took it out. The next day, when we were on a tour, he refused to get out of the coach to see a building because he said he'd got to an exciting bit. People then asked me if they could buy one. A day or so later at breakfast, a man came over and said that his wife hadn't put the light out until two in the morning until she'd finished the book. If only I'd taken more copies! It was better than a book tour - I didn't have to do any promotion, my readers did it for me.

Q.     ‘All in the Mind’ and 'Watcher in the Shadows' are psychological thrillers.  What made you decide to write in this genre?

A.      I read a great many crime novels of all kinds from who-dun-its and cosy crime to psychological suspense. Just before I started writing my first two crime novels, I was reading a great deal of Nicci French, Minette Walters and Val MeDermid who ‘do’ obsession and secret fears so superbly. Having said that, I am currently writing whodunits about a tour manager for a coach company. 'Blood on the Bulb Fields' is set in Holland and 'Blood in the Wine' in the Rhine Valley. I'm finding these great fun. I love the puzzle element and I have Fiona's life mapped out for a good half dozen books.

Q.      What are you writing at the moment?

A.       I'd begun working on the third novel in the Fiona Mason series 'Blood in Belgium' but our holiday earlier this year sparked off an idea for a one off novel, 'Death in Galapagos' which I've also started!

Q.      Do you do much research for your books?

A.      An amazing amount!  My very first book was an historical novel set in Romano Britain in the 4th century and that took a vast amount of reading around as well as visits to Chedworth Roman Villa and other Roman remains.  I’d just finished my degree and I suppose I’d got into the research mode.  My second completed novel was a Sword and Sorcery Fantasy but even that entailed trips to the Carriage Museum at Maidstone to find a suitable coach to carry four passengers, including a 7’ 2” magician, plus all their luggage and to the Ship Museum in Amsterdam to discover what kind of boat would transport a coach across the channel. Making sure that police procedures are spot on in my crime novels is essential and I’m very lucky as a crime writer to have a brother who is an Inspector in the Norfolk Constabulary and he is a great help. My latest series is set in different countries in Europe and demand a fantastic amount of research including a visit to each country to check details, obtain ideas and soak up the atmosphere. What better excuse can there be for having to go on holiday? 

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