Mandy was born into an armed forces family and grew up with her siblings in Scotland, Germany and Singapore. Used to a household with dogs as pets, it was only when she met her husband, John, that she learned the joys of living with cats. She and John now live in the countryside near the port of Oban in Northern Argyll, Scotland, where they have nine free-range chickens (who give them the best eggs in the world) and five wonderful cats, including Polly who appears in the Mikie books. Mandy has been a children and families social worker for 32 years and currently works as a service improvement officer.