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Coming from a humble, working class family in the United Kingdom, the roots of my writing skills were born in primary school, and although much mocked for my love of classical music and poetry by peers, it never really detracted me from the enjoyment I glean from the written word.

I remember at a very early age having an advanced reading age and being thrilled when reading authors such as Oscar Wilde and Thomas Hardy, and astounded by the way in which writers used language in such a powerful manner as to evoke images in the reader's eye. Painting pictures with words is something I was astutely aware of even at the age of 8, when I won recognition as a young writer being presented with the prize of a biro pen and a bar of chocolate. It wasn't the prize that counted, but the recognition that my work was of value that has stayed with me all my life, driving me into the realms of written work as a pleasure more than a chore.

During my early working life and throughout my personal life, poetry and writing has sustained my belief in myself and has helped me through times of despair, desolation at the loss of my husband and members of my family, and indeed became part of my essential day to day living when I moved from the United Kingdom to live in a land where the possibility of work was limited for immigrants. Remembering my first short story at the age of 39, the thrill at acceptance from an Editor was a memorable one, which was followed by a further 39 accepted short stories, borne of necessity and need to earn money, though giving me a chance, for the first time in my life, to use my imagination to earn instead of relying upon a job that I detested. The richest element of my life here in a foreign country is to have time to live. For years, I had worked in an office environment stifled by career, and here I was for the first time in my life with not a penny in my pocket, though free as a bird to sit down and write.

My writing career has been very rewarding indeed, ranging from poetry for greetings cards, two complete novels and a range of short stories, some in serialization form and others in a format that is extremely popular having twist endings, aimed at a female audience. The high spot for me with fiction was a collaboration with a french author of similar background, who was able to translate my English stories which now appear in French magazines.

Going on from writing reviews, I turned my hand to fiction and to plays for television, and although I was not

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