I have always wanted to write. As a child the only thing I ever won was a Children’s Story Competition at school.
I have never forgotten that moment of wonderful amazement, when, with no expectations whatsoever, I heard my name read out. Sadly, or perhaps luckily, that story, which as far as I can remember involved, mice, a rocket and the moon, is long since lost.
For some years I taught children with Dyslexia in Oxford. However, I now spend much of my time at home on our smallholding just outside Wallingford. I live here with my husband, a ridiculous number of dogs, chickens, and a ‘large’ flock of pedigree Cotswold sheep – as Cotswolds are a ‘rare breed’ anything over 19 is a ‘large flock’! To find out more about these wonderful and historic animals do visit the Cotswold Sheep Society website. To find out more about the farm please visit our Queenford Farm website.
Life on the farm
As both the children are grown up and living away from home – there is really no excuse now not to write every day – yet somehow my days just get busier….!!
Nile Cat
In 2020, largely I have to admit, owing to our enforced isolation owing to the pandemic, I managed to complete Nile Cat, which is the first in a trilogy of novels for Young Adults set in Victorian and ancient Egypt. To find out more about the book click here.
This has involved several research trips to Egypt, particularly to both Saqqara and Giza. Even with the city of Cairo lapping at the feet of the pyramids, Giza is still an impressive and extraordinary place.
Writing Career
I have a Diploma in Creative Writing from the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education, and have been a member of the Oxford Writers Group for many years. I contributed to five successful collections of short stories; The Sixpenny Debt and other Oxford Stories, The Lost College and other Oxford Stories, The Bodleian Murders and other Oxford Stories, The Midnight Press and Other Oxford Stories and finally The Radcliffe Legacy and Other Oxford Stories.
My short story Arthur’s Boy was highly commended in the Sid Chaplin Short Story Competition and I have also written a number of articles for various publications. An early version of Nile Cat was short-listed in Waterstones’ Wow Factor competition.
From Norfolk to the Nile
For some years I have been researching my Egyptologist ancestors. One of their claims to fame is introducing the young Howard Carter to Egypt. With the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb now past, it is time to tell the story concerning the part the Tyssen-Amhersts of Didlington Hall played in setting Carter on the road to one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Having access to wonderful unpublished material still in family archives, as well as to the yards (and I do mean yards – many of them…) of papers held in archives around the world is enabling me to uncover the extraordinary story of a family of fascinating characters. Some of the material I have found is mentioned on my Blog page. I have also lectured on the Tyssen-Amhersts to several Egyptological Societies, and written articles about the family. One article The Princess and the Karnak Cachette was published in Laurent Coulon’s La Cachette de Karnak. I have also presented papers on the family’s exploits in Egypt to the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE).