Hello!

My name is Mary, and I’m a writer and artist. I believe stories aren’t plucked from thin air, they are hiding in plain sight. Stories locked inside museum crates, crouching in old churchyards, and tucked away in history’s greatest mysteries.

Whether I’m writing a folklore-infused mystery or a fast-paced action heist, my work is driven by secret history: taking the real facts, objects, and events we recognise and weaving a fictional tale around them.

For nearly two decades, I had a front-row seat to how children experience stories. My years as a primary school teacher taught me that the best part of any day is story time on the carpet. It is there that I discovered how young readers gravitate towards honesty and emotional depth in a story, especially when it's wrapped in the excitement of a high-stakes adventure that makes you want to turn the page. 

There's no better feeling than sharing a story together.

Over my last 8 years in education I served as a Specialist Advisory Teacher for children with physical support needs. This role gave me a profound respect for the real-world resilience that children navigate every day. By weaving these genuine emotional truths and forgotten heroisms into my characters, I aim to create worlds that, while extraordinary, remain deeply relatable to those finding their own way through the world.

My passion for cultural heritage led me to The Story Museum in Oxford, where I spent time making narratives come alive for audiences of all ages. Combined with training in heritage management and museum learning, this background allows me to anchor my fantastical stories in authentic history. It’s about sparking that shared 'what if' and inviting readers to look at things in many different ways.

I hold a B.A. (Hons) in English Literature and have studied creative writing at the University of Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education. I’ve also explored the visual side of storytelling at the Anglia Ruskin School of Art summer school for illustration. My writing has been shortlisted for the Flash 500 and placed in the top 3% for the Bridport Prize.

I live with my young family in North Oxfordshire, where I am continually inspired by the local landscape and its rich history. When I’m not writing or drawing, you’ll usually find me skulking around local churchyards, hunting for a forgotten object or an unexplained event that might just be an idea for a next book.

Please enjoy having a look around the website, and do get in touch!

Best wishes, 

Mary