Lucy Abelson

Lucy Abelson grew up in Kent where her father ran a tutorial establishment and her mother praticised as a doctor. Since many students came from overseas, from an early age, Lucy was used to living in a multi-national, multi-cultural environment.

As a child, she spent much of her time in the children's corner of her local bookshop, the Sevenoaks Bookshop. Although she devoured fiction, she managed to win a general knowledge competition, set by the bookshop, which led to a prize-giving ceremony with Noel Streatfield. On hearing the ten year old wanted to be "a writer like you" when she grew up, the great author responded to hoots of laughter from the assembled grown-ups, with the remark, "This little girl wants to steal my job".

Undeterred Lucy started contributing to magazines such as the "Young Elizabethan" during her school days at West Heath school. Although the small private school was not an academic institution, Lucy's mother, the school doctor there liked the school's ethos where attention was given to the individual. She was still the school doctor when Diana Spencer, later the Princess of Wales, attended the school.

Although Lucy passed A-levels, she decided not to go to university because she wanted to experience life in the raw for a future as a writer. Inspired by Monica Dickens,(descendent of Charles Dickens), "One Pair of Hands", she started a short ill-fated career as a nurse. When this flounded after 9 months she began a journalistic career on Honey magazine. She also wrote for many other magazines before progressing on to newspapers. For 17 years she was on the staff of the Sunday Express as a feature writer and columnist.

Lucy gave up her job in Journalism to look after her third daughter who has learning difficulties.

Looking after a child with communication problems and the social problems that arose for the family as a result of this, brought a new interest for Lucy. Always an animal lover, she started to study communication in animals and animal societies. She has been all over the world to look at creatures in their natural environments. This is reflected in her stories.