About me... I was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire in the UK, where I grew up surrounded by iron and steel works and coal mining villages. I always loved to write but was distracted from writing fiction by lecturing and academic work in colleges and universities, not to mention studying for four degrees. I developed my story-telling skills by writing romance novels and have published five of them under a pseudonym. However, it was a search for my family roots and an interest in local industrial history that provided the inspiration for my first six historical novels. Stories about real people and places stimulate my writer’s imagination, but the characters and settings in my novels are pure invention. I spend much of my time researching for ideas either at my desk, in libraries or museums, or exploring town and country from my base in South Yorkshire. I often visit the beautiful Yorkshire Dales in West Yorkshire where I find that walking on the fells helps me to think through my ideas. When I am home in the South of England, I write at a window that overlooks my garden or in a small wooden lodge on the lawn. I enjoy being out in the fresh air and have a beach hut on Hayling Island so if I need a change of scenery I take myself off to the seaside for a day. Sea air is wonderful for clearing the mind and helping untangle a complex plot! You can find out more about my life as a paperback writer by reading my occasional blog updates. My books are available in the UK from W H Smith and Asda, and worldwide in e-format from Amazon. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. Catherine Zoë  King - Designs for Writers