Pat escaped from her Victorian house near the centre of Dartford 16 years ago when the last of her brood departed the nest. Now she lives in a quietish backwater at Sutton at Hone, delighting in the stream, which mostly stays at the bottom of the garden! From her 'sun lounge' she can see over the valley but at the front is able watch the comings and goings of the native population.

Writing, along with reading, has been her hobby since she could hold a pencil and seems to be in her genes. Walt Whitman, the American poet and journalist, is a direct relative of hers. Her father was the chief northern journalist for a national paper, though sadly he died when he was 29. Her uncle wrote hymns and poems to his wife.

Pat will have a go at most forms of writing; short stories, children's books, the beginnings of a novel (the rest remains in her head where it is corrected during sleepless moments of the night!), and non-fiction. She came second in a children's story competition and has had articles accepted by various publications. She's done historical research and written a number of articles for her local historical magazine. She's also managed to fit in a part-time University of Kent course in Creative Writing.

Her various books full of scribbles, old diaries and computer directories are all proof of her obsession. Unfortunately keeping the household afloat has interfered with her ambitions for more years than she's willing to admit to!

Whatever pressures take her away from her writing, she always returns to it. She found rejection slips off-putting, until she joined The Write Place and found others in her position. Now she hopes to be more prosaic about them and continue to try her luck.