Balthazar's Casket

I began writing poetry and short stories whilst still at school, having been infected at a very early age with an unshakeable love of magic, mystery and adventure, by parents who encouraged me to read fantastical story books and to believe that fairies slept in the daffodil flowers in the family’s garden. I still surreptitiously check the occasional daffodil bloom, just in case. Blessed with a headmaster father and a geneticist mother, there was no escaping university, where I leant more towards my mother’s bents – ending up with a degree in genetics, but with an enduring love for fiction writing, water-colour ink painting and for the natural world in all its beauties. Sadly, the low likelihood of being able to make a decent living writing or painting drove me into a scientific marketing career, first in pharmaceuticals, then scientific publishing and, latterly, into directing the commercialisation of academic inventions, which anyone having any experience of the mindsets of academics will realise was an uphill struggle. Nevertheless, being determined to write, indeed unable to stop writing, I filled my limited free time with the creation of small and tall tales and poetry, some work winning competitions and being published. I travelled a great deal, both on business and for pleasure, gaining especial love for America’s wildernesses and national parks, sunny Greek islands - and anywhere that sells marzipan. I once rode to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on a mule; have enjoyed scuba diving on tropical reefs; once foolishly fed sting rays by hand; climbed Huayna Picchu, the mountain above the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru and have never voluntarily lived without at least one cat (and sometimes up to four). Once I’d saved enough to cease work, I began fulfilling my long-cherished dream of settling down to write a novel. Balthazar’s Casket is soon to be published and I intend it to be the first of many. I now divide my time between writing, painting pet portraits, part-managing the Scottish country estate that is my home and, of course, cherishing, feeding and nagging my beloved husband and our Ragdoll cat, Lotus Blossom (pic below).