I grew up in Guisborough, on the edge of the North York Moors and later Redcar in Teesside, by the sea.

After brief stints as a College Librarian, an Education Officer in a Victorian Cemetery and an NHS researcher I landed my dream job as a Question Researcher on Mastermind.

I now write and verify questions for several TV quiz shows including University Challenge, Pointless and 15-to-1. My work, especially researching Specialist Subjects for Mastermind, has been a rich source of story ideas.

I have had short stories published in various anthologies. My story ‘The Marzipan Husband’ was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. In 2014 I won a Northern Writers’ Award for the ‘The Companion’

I live in West Yorkshire with my husband and our teenager, and an elderly cat, a Cockerpoo and varying numbers of hens.