Mercia’s the interesting one, but if you’d like to know a little about me…

I’m British by birth. I was born in the West Midlands (the Black Country, just west of Birmingham) and lived there for nineteen years. I went to the same school in Birmingham as JRR Tolkien – if a few decades later. I’ve always loved his imagination. I still remember the day I first picked up a copy of The Hobbit in my junior school book room. That cover! The trees, the mountains, the dragon… I think you could say it helped inspire me to write.

When I grew up (partly) I journeyed north to read Spanish and Russian at the University of Manchester, topped off by a year at the Students Union. Swinging the other way I headed south to London, where I worked for a decade in government. But I always wanted to write – ever since those days in school – and when I left London to move to New York, I finally had the chance. And so I created Mercia Blakewood and wrote her first adventure Birthright.

After three years discovering the US on a number of road-trips, I returned to Britain in 2016, in time for Birthright‘s initial release. Since then I’ve been privileged to add two more novels to Mercia’s story, finalising the initial trilogy of her tales. Then during the coronavirus pandemic a fourth Mercia book followed, a short novel initially released in parts on this website, and which will come out as a full ebook soon.

In 2021 I became a parish councillor for the village in north Oxfordshire where I live, not too far from Halescott Manor…

… and am now working on a new project.