THE STORY SO FAR

I live in West Devon, UK on a smallholding with my husband, the dog, some hens, 2 goslings and a mismatched flock of sheep. My favourite things to write about are food, drink, farming and rural life. My favourite pastime is making things from wool and sharp needles. My favourite sort of day involves a new lamb being born, or sloe gin being drunk by the fire pit.

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I was born in lowland Scotland, living mostly in the East Lothian countryside. After school, I completed an MA (Hons) in English Literature and Medieval History at Edinburgh University. Rapidly realising there was not much to be done with such a degree, I did an MPhil in Publishing Studies at the University of Stirling and set off on an inevitable path into books. 

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I was interested in cookery and crafts from an early age. Although pony mad, I didn't realise how fascinating sheep were until much later on. 

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I had a previous incarnation as a book publishing executive, latterly as Publishing Director for DK Travel Guides and Rough Guides. I ran big budgets, looked after big teams, worked with authors, built lists, launched websites, did a lot of corporate ‘stuff’ and travelled all over the place. Then I grew bored with the high heels and departure lounges and ran back to the country.

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​Working for illustrated reference publishers gave me the chance to work with some great authors on diverse and random subjects. Cookery to gardening, motor racing to canine homeopathy - I learned there was something fascinating in every topic.