I was born in Wales in 1972, and grew up too fast in south west Scotland where I lived with my English parents and three brothers, watching the ferry boats going to and from Northern Ireland. I left home at 17, went over the border to England, and lived for a year in Carlisle, before moving to Devon. I gained a first class degree from Dartington College of Arts when I was 21, then after brief stints busking and carrying on in both Leeds and London, I moved to Brighton aged 23 where I grew up a bit slower, and have lived ever since.I have always written, probably on just about every day of my life, and from 2008-10, I studied Creative Writing at Sussex University. I had a number of short stories published and more shortlisted and longlisted as a result of competitions I entered while on the course, and my first novel, Snake Ropes started as a short story which wouldn’t stop growing. Snake Ropes was published by Sceptre in 2012, and was shortlisted for the Costa first book award 2012. My second novel, Cooking with Bones, was published in 2013.