I am a writer living in beautiful Snowdonia, in Wales in the UK.
My first full-length book, ‘Eden’s Garden’ is to be published by the small but mighty Honno Press http://www.honno.co.uk/ in spring 2012. It will also be released as an e-book.
Eden’s Garden is a ‘time-shift’ novel, with two intertwined strands of the story taking place in different eras, as in Kate Morton’s ‘The House at Riverton’. Eden’s Garden follows the Meredith family of Plas Eden, a dilapidated mansion with a collection of mysterious statues in its overgrown garden, and the servants who once served there. If you love ‘Downton Abbey’, this is the book for you!
Under my pen name, Heather Pardoe, I write stories for magazines, and I’m halfway through writing my first serial, which is set in Victorian times during the Welsh gold rush.
I live in a traditional cottage halfway between the romantic Isle of Anglesey and the beautiful mountains and ruined castles of Snowdonia. After living and working in London for over ten years, this may seem remote. But then where else can you find yourself sharing your local supermarket with a duchess, while a real-life prince flies regularly overhead to rescue damsels (and other assorted walkers) in distress?
After taking a degree in English, and a postgraduate degree from Kings College, London, I worked at a variety of jobs, from running a stall at Covent Garden Market to English teacher, until a bout of severe glandular fever left me struggling for ten years with the debilitating effects of M.E.
M.E. was the worst, and the best, thing that ever happened to me. On one hand, it sent me from being able to walk up mountains with ease to struggling to do the simplest of everyday tasks for more than a few minutes at a time. But on the other, it forced me to re-evaluate my life and my priorities. It was the turning point in my life that made me a writer.
I’m now well, and back to dog walking and gardening, and slowly beginning to fulfill my dream of earning my living as a full-time author.