I was born in London, but my family moved to Cork when I was eight. After school, I went to UCC where I studied English and German. After that I went to Dublin and trained as a primary school teacher. I taught for many years, and loved it, but I couldn’t forget my childhood dream of becoming a writer.

This is me when I was ten. I was at school in Cork, and the idea of being a writer seemed like an impossible dream.

This is my cat Domino - the only real character who has ever appeared in any of my books.

I started writing in 1999, but my first novel didn’t hit the shelves until 2003. My first novel for children was published in 2005. I’ve lived in lots of places – London, Cork, Dublin, Portlaoise – but now I live in Limerick.