Mary's Bio

I have always wanted to live by the sea, perhaps driven by memories of a childhood living by the chilly ocean close to the north east coast of Yorkshire, England. Life was tough back then, but our playground of beaches, seascapes and country lanes allowed escape from things we couldn’t change.

So here I am close to my wish as I live in a house looking down on a small bay of a tidal river in Nova Scotia. Place and atmosphere are important to me. Writing seems to be encouraged by the flow of water, the flight of sea birds, the call of a loon, or the sharp tang of salt sea air on my skin.

It’s been a long journey from a small town upbringing to working in London and then a major move to Canada. Although I have always wanted to write, it took that journey and many bumps along the way before I could develop my stories. First you have to make a living. Working as an editor and then moving into corporate communications was not what I longed to do, but chance finally popped up on the horizon when I retired.

Here, on the banks of the LaHave River, I can work on the stories in my head. It’s crowded up there so the characters, places, events, have to go somewhere to leave space for other ideas. One of those ideas, developed into Taming the Hawk. Set in Victorian England. It was a gold star day for me when Hawk was picked up by publisher, Lea Schizaz of MuseItUp Publishing.

MuseItUp also published Luscious & Lethal, a contemporary romantic suspense set along a river just like the one outside my window. This book was the first in the Gilded River Chronicles. The series will follow the trials of women from away who seek a safe harbor. Murder, mayhem and a bunch of feral cats get tangled in the second book in the series. 

Now I have to get back to spilling another story into my laptop. Retirement is full of possibilities and having the time and choice to do what you love doing. Writing for me is a necessity, the research is fun. For another book in the series, I have a heroine in mind who gets flashes of other lives when she picks up a piece of sea glass or other beach combing finds. So here I am doing research on feral cat colonies, jewelry of the Hollywood era, sea glass, and the life of a musician for Candle Without A Flame. It gets confusing at times, but I know the mysteries will be solved in the end. Stay tuned.