I used to be a full time English teacher. Now I spend some of my time writing instead. Not long after I had begun writing 'Alis' ( I was still a full time Head of English then) I heard about the Faber-Waterstones WOW Factor competition so I submitted my three chapters and a synopsis. I managed to complete a manuscript by the deadline and was one of 13 on the shortlist. I didn't win but it put me on the road to getting an agent and a publisher. The competition only ran for one year so I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I only heard about it because our school librarian gave me some leaflets thinking it was a competition for schoolchildren.
ALIS was published by Andersen Press on 6th September 2007 and by Viking Penguin in the US in February 2009. It was shortlisted in 2008 for the Sheffield Children's Book Award and the Children's Section of the Glen Dimplex Award.