I read Ancient History and Classical Civilisation at the University of Sheffield, which left me with a lasting enthusiasm for ferreting out obscure facts and writing about them. After university I worked as a fundraising director for a mental health charity. I hadn’t expected the computer system to be added to my duties, but it was. To my surprise, I liked it, and started training other people to conquer what was then the exciting new world of computer software. That led on to working as a freelance trainer, and that led on to writing software manuals and training courses, and editing other people’s efforts.

I detoured into book selling, specialising in books about the horse. I wrote various articles on children’s pony books, as well as a website on authors who wrote pony books (well over 1,000, and counting, in case you’re asking). Then I was commissioned to write a book about pony books, and in 2013, Heroines on Horseback – the Pony Book in Children’s Fiction, was published. Now I have the rights back, I’ve published it myself.

Proofreading never really went away; I’d spent the book selling years with it as a sideline, and proofread over 20 books for a children’s book publisher. When I closed the book selling business, I moved on to proofreading and editing full-time. I haven’t forgotten the world of books: I also publish eBook versions of classic children’s equine literature.

I am still keen on horses, though I will never rival our Olympic riders. I am the sort of rider who can fall off a horse that is standing still. When not working, I sing. I passed  Grade 5 theory, and am ridiculously proud of achieving what most musicians do at the age of 10.