I am originally from a small market town in the South of England but a few years ago, my husband and I upped sticks and left Blighty for rugged and rural France. We'd had enough of the rat race and decided to jump, with both feet, into a different, but much simpler existence.

In my previous life, I was an English teacher to students who needed a bit of extra help to learn. I loved my job, the students being the highlight of my days.

Nowadays my time is spent writing, sporadically helping my husband renovate our old stone farmhouse, and looking after two enormous dogs. The amount of dribble I wipe up on a daily basis is remarkable, from the dogs, not my husband!