mns  2004-12-18 16:33   

I was born in London and raised in Dublin. Like everyone else I am the product of my childhood, schooled briefly in Pembroke School and Alexandra College, followed by a period in London before going to Trinity College in Dublin where I took my degree simultaneously in Arts and growing up. I lived, studied and worked in England, Italy, Ireland and Germany. I have two children, Steffen and Sophie Higel, and I had a dog, Poppy, a liver spotted Dalmatian who died in 2006.

I am a director of Argosy Libraries, the book wholesalers that my grandfather founded in the forties, and my mother took over on his death. My brother Fergal now runs it. In the early Nineties I wrote/compiled two children’s Crossword Books which were published by Poolbeg and were bestsellers. They were fun to do and at that point, caught up with work, children and husband, I never imagined I would have either the time or discipline to write a novel. At a crisis-point in my life in March 2000, my marriage ended and a health problem hit me in the face; I suddenly realised that I was not immortal and that if I had things I wanted to do, I had better start doing them.

I began writing Retreat, a novel about five girls in a Dublin convent. It took me six months to write and was bought by Headline in the U.K. It is of profound importance to me that my mother knew about the existence of Retreat; I told her the week she died, early September 2000 which was the same week that Headline made their offer. And I have been writing since. See Books.

You can check me out at the MadAboutBooks page on me.

I love travelling and 2004 saw me in Malta for the launch of Revenge. This was followed by a trip to Ayr (in Scotland - in case you didn't know) where I stayed with my friends Stephen and Ivy Cashmore. Stephen and I were working on a film script of my second novel Missing, and we walked the beach and talked and talked. I hadn't been in a 'real' family situation in a long time - a mum, a dad and children, laughter, chatter, banter, joy - and all I can say is that it was perfect.

We have written Missing as Acts of Contrition, full details from Julian Friedmann.

In July I was back in Scotland, this time in Peebles for another great weekend with Stephen Cashmore and Maureen Dennison. It was bridge bridge bridge and it was wonderful.
In August I finally made it back to Nogent in France playing bridge with my friend Tacchi (and staying with Tacchi and Jane which was brilliant fun. It had been three years since I'd visited them in their magical home).

I played in the Brighton Congress that month, and then there were some six or more trips to London, mostly work related.

In 2005, I went to Bergen in Norway (yes, bridge again - this time with Maureen Dennison), a couple of trips to Chester (a combination of work, theatre, cinema, laughter and fun), and four visits to London (including a trip to Leicester Square for the opening night of Star Wars III - and yes, before you ask, I think the force is with me).

In the summer of 2005, in love, I moved back to live in London, and in 2007 we moved to Chester. Further developments can be found on My Diary.