Helen Scott Taylor

http://www.helenscotttaylor.com

When I was a little girl, I used to write stories about my teddy bear and soft toy rabbit:Bingo and Charlie. These two deceptively innocent little creatures didn't spend their time enjoying dolls' tea parties or playing with their friends like normal toys. Bingo and Charlie fought off alien invasions, battled the fairies at the bottom of the garden and generally had a smashing time and horrified my teachers.

After earning a degree in Botany and Zoology from London University, I dabbled in accountancy and then worked in sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. Twenty years ago, I discovered my entrepreneurial spirit and set up a business with my husband providing a pest control service to other businesses in the South West of England.

Having faced rats the size of cats and all manner of creepy crawlies, I've seen sights that would curl your toes, turn your stomach and maybe send the more sensitive among you screaming from the room—or at least leaping for the nearest chair.

With the business thriving, and my two children becoming more independent, I hit the dreaded four oh, and decided to *find myself*. My search for a new direction eventually led me full circle back to my childhood love of creating stories.

Unfortunately, my initial inspiration, Bingo and Charlie, are long gone. (Actually, I hate to admit this, but Bingo is extensively patched and languishing in a wardrobe in the spare room, and I haven't a clue where Charlie is—what a bad mommy I am!)

I'm lucky enough to live near Plymouth in Devon between the windswept expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coast. As well as my wonderful long-suffering husband, and two children, I share my home with two Shih Tzus and an aristocratic chocolate-shaded-silver-burmilla cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. I love to write about the locale and places I've visited. THE MAGIC KNOT was set in Cornwall and Ireland, and the first two sequels I plan are set in Wales and Scotland.

THE MAGIC KNOT was the winner of the American Title IV contest run by Romantic Times Magazine in conjunction with Dorchester Publishing.