A Lancashire lass,I was born in Bolton in the north-west of England, and grew up in the tough environment of a council estate. My family moved to Perth in Western Australia when I was a teenager.
As sponsored migrants, my family went from the treat of a trip on a luxurious liner to Nissan hut life in a migrant camp. Three weeks later we moved to a house on the Swan River at Maylands.
Leaving isn't an option for today's boat people housed in detention centres. My heart goes out to them.
None of my books are autobiographical but I have drawn on my life experiences in all my novels. Take SABOTEUR, Book one of The Biocide Conspiracy Trilogy:- I was marketing manager of the Daily News when it went the way of afternoon newspapers worldwide. Uncertain what I wanted to do next, I took a temporary position as a governess on Minilya, a sheep and cattle station in the Australian outback. The station was located close to the Carnarvon Tracking Station built for the Gemini Space program. To entertain my pupils I invented a story about the International Sace Station crash-landing on a station very like Minilya. In fact, the hero's sleeping arrangements were based on my own. Not very flash as you can see. But sleeping on the verandah was bliss to sleepless night in the alternative, a galvanised sweat box.
Following the recent death of my husband, I moved to Marmion in Western Australia. I took a break from writing and visited my home town for the first time since I left the UK in 1959. On my return, I sat down at my PC. 2020 is my most productive year to date withSABOTEURout on July 1 BIOCIDE.COM on September 21 and JIHAD sneaking in on December 19.