Barbara Phipps

I was born in Liverpool, England, in 1950. My earliest memory is of moving to the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1953. The family travelled by train and we had blackcurrant pie in the restaurant carriage.

From the age of four I attended Sandal Endowed Junior School, and then in 1961, when I passed my 'Eleven Plus' I went to Wakefield Girls' High School. The headmistress once told my mother I had the unfortunate knack of looking as if I wasn't listening. I left school in 1967 with a handful of 'O' levels, including English Language and Literature. The careers mistress told my parents I wasn't clever enough for 'A' levels.

I have worked as an assistant to pharmacists, dentists, pathologists and veterinary surgeons, all of which has been very interesting and very badly paid. I am retired from such work. Since the year 2000 I have been a Magistrate in West Yorkshire. It is a voluntary position which I find very interesting and challenging, but cannot say it is always enjoyable.

My hobbies include reading, walking,gardening and cooking. I write in my head as I read, walk, garden and cook. My characters are always with me, so I am never lonely, even when I am alone.

I love to create believable characters; they sometimes tell me what to write.

My first novel, 'The Threlfalls,' is published by Bluewood Publishing as an ebook and paperback. My second novel, entitled 'Never Ask Why,' will be released in 2013.This is a work of contemporary fiction. I am curently working on the sequel to 'The Threlfalls.'