I grew up in the Wye Valley area of Wales. Whether it was running wild in the Welsh woods, reading Celtic fairy tales or the stories of my infamous Great Aunt Mary who was said to be a witch, I became fascinated with magic from a young age. I’d spend my spare time writing my own stories about magic (and sometimes, badgers), trying to cajole my friends at school into joining a coven after watching The Craft (who doesn’t want to be Nancy Downs?) and genuinely attempting to cast spells (no naked moon rituals, yet).
My fascination didn’t stop as I entered adulthood. In fact, I think it’s important for all adults to maintain a healthy belief in magic. I studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Warwick University where I ended up in living with many engineers and was lucky enough to spend a lot of my time writing poetry and stories and working with other writers. I completed the course with my first novella – a dark fairytale about a sociopath (keeping it light). I went on to study Magazine Journalism at Cardiff School of Journalism and then took a year out where I waitressed, made comedy video sketches (thankfully TikTok didn’t exist then) and went backpacking (and I had an incredible time apart from ending up ill in hospital and dramatically telling myself I have to pull through because I still haven’t written a book).
On return, I moved to London and landed a job at teen magazine Sugar where I spent my days writing about One Direction’s hair (I don’t want to boast but I did break the name of their third single) and running the YA Book Club. Meeting authors, attending book launches and getting to read all the books confirmed to me that this was the world for me. I began researching magic in my spare time, writing reams and reams of notes and accumulating a unique collection of books on magic and the occult (difficult to explain to guests).
Following five years in consumer publishing and in digital strategy at a weird and wonderful creative agency I finally did it. I quit my job. I became a part time copywriter and began spending an inordinate amount of time at the British Library, requesting all sorts of odd books and creating even more notes. It was the best year of my life: roaming around London, writing in cafés, eating far too much cake – weaving the city with all the magic I wished it contained.
Before I knew it I had done what felt like the impossible. Cast my own spell. Written a book. My book. Threadneedle. Complete with a scene set in the British Library, naturally.
Now, I have moved back West, to Bristol, with my wonderful husband (one of those Warwick engineers) and our son (who is appropriately named after the Celtic figure Taliesin, born from a cauldron). In my non book-writing time I continue to write a lot of poetry, enjoy consuming stories in any form – books, movies, TV shows, immersive experiences (the scarier the better). I like to dance, swim, do my own version of inflexible yoga and can still be found walking in the woods which I believe is the most magical place on earth.