I was born in Stranraer, a small town by the sea in Galloway, and I still like to be there as much as I can. I love the sea, the lochs and the rivers.
Most of the time, though, I live in Glasgow with my cats Lily, and Lily’s son The Woozle. When I’m not writing, I teach English as an Additional Language at Glendale Primary School. The children I teach are almost always the inspiration for my characters.
I enjoy reading, drawing, making shadow puppets, gardening, and listening to music. I also play treble recorder in the Scottish Recorder Orchestra. I spend a lot of time practising! The Bryony books are fun to write because they give me the chance to write songs.
I have had 14 books published. These include Speak Up, Spike!, Shadowflight and The Pen-pal from Outer Space, all of which were named Guardian Book of the Week. My first picture book came out this year, it’s called Starting School.
I’ve really enjoyed writing the Bryony Bell books, and getting to know more and more about the characters. In this book I wanted to give Mrs Quigg a star part, and I hope her ‘glitzy’ past will be as nice a surprise for readers as it was for Bryony and Abid.
I wonder what the future will hold for Bryony and the Broadway Belles. I’m sure they’ll go from strength to strength. What do you think? If you’d like to see a bit more of Bryony, look at my website: