- I was born in Chile, and travelled round the most exotic parts of South America and the Caribbean before I was old enough to notice any of it.
- I went to primary schools in Tain, Innerleithen, and Dufftown, and then Speyside High School in Aberlour.
- I spent ten childhood years living beside a distillery, a river and a railway line, giving me lots of opportunities for incredibly dangerous outdoor games.
- I became involved in student politics at Glasgow University when I should have been attending maths lectures.
- I was the Scottish National Party‘s Press Officer for many exciting and sleepless years and then a researcher and producer at BBC Radio Scotland.
- I have had short stories published in anthologies and magazines, and won the Canongate Prize in 2001.
- I now live in Leith, and work as a storyteller, visiting schools with traditional tales from Scotland and all over the world (with a particular affection for stories from Chile).
- I started writing my first children's novel at night while my own children slept, and finished it when my younger daughter started nursery.
- I am now writing my next novel, distracted by my new kittens (Winnie and Tam Linn) who keep chasing the mouse and standing on the keyboard trying to type cats into every chapter.
Forthcoming Events
PENICUIK ARTS FESTIVAL
Saturday 30th August
10.30 am - Trickster Tales and Riddling;
11.30 am - Meet Fabled Beasts in the Yurt!
1.30 pm - Meet Fabled Beasts in the Yurt!
All in the Yurt at Penicuik Pottery, Valleyfield House, 17 High St
Details from: www.makers.org.uk/penicuik/
festival2008
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From the Borders, through Orkney and on to Edinburgh‘s underground streets, First Aid for
Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts is a skilful blend of fable and fiction as Helen embarks on an exciting race through Scotland‘s diverse landscapes.
Accompanied by an array of creatures from mythology and folklore, Helen and her fantastical friends must solve a sequence of riddles in order to recover the lost Book before the Winter Solstice.
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