I was born in Scotland and lived there until I was eleven years old. I’ve never lost that connection with Scotland and when we cross the border and I see the ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign I feel tingly all over and I know I’m home. Although I no longer ‘sound’ Scottish, I soon find my accent when I’m in the midst of my family and start using the ‘Old Scots’ words: scunner, peely-wally, dreich and swally. It was a no brainer to set my novels north of the border and to remind myself what my Scottish heritage means to me.

Growing up in the Central Belt with the Ravenscraig Steel Works literally at the bottom of my garden (so not romantic!) I created an alternative reality. In the nearby woods I went in search of faeries under toadstools, nyads at the bottom of wells and dryads hiding…