I’m a proud Anglo-American. Although almost all of my books are set in Britain, I grew up a world away in Los Angeles. However, I’ve always wanted to live in the UK. After nine years in New York City, I picked up my life and moved to London for a big, scary, fantastic adventure. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
The Light Over London
I used to be a serious swing and blues dancer. One of the first days I was at university, I saw a couple swing dancing and knew I had to learn. Over the years I’ve competed, taught lessons, and even made a radio documentary about social dancing. Now I’m much less serious about it, but I still dance whenever I have the chance.
Writing about World War II helped me learn about my own family’s history. I always knew that the British side of my family would have stories about World War II. What I didn’t realize was how many parallels I would be able to draw when I set The Light Over London in post-Blitz London. I learned so many things including that the reason I’d seen very few family photos from before the war was that my grandparents’ house was bombed and that my uncle was born during the Liverpool Blitz.
I used to be a TV news producer. Before I moved to the UK, I was a New York City TV news producer for six years before moving over to digital journalism. I’d like to say that nothing—good or bad—shocks me anymore but working in news teaches you that people will never cease to amaze you!
I unknowingly lost out of being homecoming queen. In many American high schools, homecoming is as big a deal as it is in the movies. I was nominated for the court my last year of school but had theatre tickets for the night of the big coronation dance. I thought seeing Moliere sounded like a lot more fun than going to a dance, so I took the tickets and went. My sister called me after I got out of the play to tell me that I’d been crowned princess. It was only a year later that I found out that I’d been voted queen but was demoted because I hadn’t shown up to my own crowning! To this day, I think I got the better deal as I’m still a big theatre fan.
I’m a runner who has done four half marathons since moving to the UK. I started running four years ago as a way to keep in shape, but I’ve learned that it’s really important for my writing as well. When I run, I tend not to think of much more than putting one foot in front of the other and having that time and mental space keeps me fresh when I sit down to write.
I worked as a tea waitress in a British specialty store one summer. In one of the stranger jobs an American teenager can have, I served three servings of high tea to ladies and the occasional gentleman from across Southern California. It’s probably not a surprise that I have very strong feelings about how I like my tea and what constitutes a good cuppa.