My roots lie deep in England’s south-west, my ancestral family’s lives tied up with the sea, shipwrights, fishermen, some reputedly smugglers too. I grew up in Plymouth, where my maternal grandfather had been a docker, my great-grandmother had sold fish from a handcart. I spent many weekends with my family in a flat in Cawsand fort, its battlements my playground, my bedroom an old limestone tunnel. My love for storytelling started with my father’s bedtime stories, like “The Hippopotamus With A Bird’s Nest Between Its Ears”; by the age of five I wanted to be a writer. 

 

I live in Dorset, enjoying its folklore, festivals, pubs and beauty. I published extensively in my past life as an academic, see My background and am now an aspiring author of local history, historical fiction, poetry and the odd rom-com. On Twitter I share my favourite bits of the past, saints, smugglers, heroines, secrets! As a folk guitarist I draw inspiration from the south-west’s rich heritage, and develop songs, humorous or poignant, as poetry. I am widowed and live with my three sons, Matthew, Simon and Peter Copp.