Susan Giles

The proverbial 'dreamer' at school, Susan's forte was her imagination. It was her daytime solace, her night-time retreat. She was a true young romantic, the girl for ever awaiting her Prince Charming - and she was one of the last teenagers to elope to Gretna Green before the age of majority was lowered to eighteen. It truly was a flight of romance, and appealed to her sense of adventure: two star-crossed lovers set against a backdrop of family prejudice. But impetuous love, albeit often passionate, sometimes burns itself out, and sadly the marriage ended in divorce.

Ironically for someone so enamoured with the romance genre, her first published stories were supernatural thrillers, appearing in successive issues of the London Mystery Selection. But it wasn't long before she returned to her favourite topic, tasting success with stories published in various romance magazines.

But as everyone knows, writing fiction is rarely financially rewarding, one has to eat, pay the mortgage, and Susan obtained a post as a journal writer in a manufacturing company. She stayed there for twenty-three years, until, with a healthier bank balance, she returned to her first love.

During her time of 'paid' employment, and piqued by her dream-filled years at school, she took an honours degree in English and history with the Open University. She now lives in Devon, where she divides her time unequally between writing, reading, gardening, travelling... and trying to play the piano and guitar.