About


Photo courtesy of Gareth Iwan Jones

I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I spent an idyllic early childhood mostly watching some very dramatic telenovelas, reading comics and going to the beach. When I was nine, I swapped all of that for a few strict British boarding schools, which weren’t nearly as fun.

As a journalist and copywriter, I wrote for tabloids, broadsheets, charities and women’s magazines, before starting my first children’s novel, ‘Bloom‘. 

My favourite place to write is the garden shed, a small, unheated hut that I share with spiders. They are quite good company though and don’t give me any trouble because they know that I am a ferocious Fire Snake.



Some interviews with me

Waterstones Shelfie: three books that influenced me

On BBC Radio 4 with Michael Rosen

Writing and rotten apples

Books for Topics

Books for Boys

Book Trust

The Reading Zone


Other writing

How can we talk to children about the climate crisis without painting it all black? (Independent)

The charm of children’s made-up words (Guardian)

Growing up in a cemetery (Guardian)

My diary obsession (Guardian)

Excerpts of my diaries

How to spend time with children (Relationship Scotland)