I suppose every beginning has to have a little biography about the writer. Readers need a vision in their mind's eye of who is talking to them.

So, I wanted to write because at heart, I am a writer. But also so that those who buy my books can learn a little more about me, where I get my books, how I work and we can also indulge in our shared passion - the art of the book.

I have spent a good deal of my life searching for the way in - the thing I can do and the people I can do that with. You see, I have Asperger's Syndrome - or high functioning autism, I think they call it now. This means that I have high ambition but low follow-through, mainly because people get in the way.

Asperger's makes talking to people, being in public places, generally being a human, much more difficult. It means that I was a high achieving child with excellent marks at school and even better marks at university, but no ability to put it into practice in a workplace. I was born before girls were even believed to have Asperger's, and there was no intervention at school for me. I was just 'a bit odd' - a one-off. 

So I had plans to be a civil servant, a journalist, a teacher, a professional. And I was - for a while - a journalist for the local rag, a teaching assistant at a few primary schools. But the hold-back - the problem was dealing with other people, using the telephone, and, more than understanding people, the fact that they couldn't understand me.

One after another, jobs would crash and burn. I went back to university, got my Master's, intended to do my PhD but Covid meant that that crashed and burned too.

And so my hobby has now become my job.

I have simplified my life - people aren't exactly out, but I have made myself much more comfortable surrounded by my true friends - books. They have always been there in my life - scary sensory issues have often been beaten by burying my head in a story and shutting off the world around me.

Books have taught me about the world I find so hard; they have also taught me that I can still be myself and relax in my otherness.

I have never been so happy and stress-free as I am now - every day I open a new book and marvel at the beauty and craft of real live pages, their illustrations, their smoothness beneath my fingers and, of course, the smell!

And I love to find them new homes. As much as I would like to keep them all, my house only has so much space.

So instead, I find them booklovers - people like me who couldn't live without a book on their bedside cabinet, or all over the floor as they spill from an ever-growing pile that has outgrown the shelving years ago.

A book finding someone to love it, is almost tantamount to a dog finding their forever home. That may sound a little mad - and I am - but Aspies do tend to see the soul in inanimate objects. Books teach; they keep you company; they share a laugh with you and soak up your tears; they can sometimes be shields in uncomfortable places; above all books don't judge.

So I thought I would share my booky world with you - how I find my books, the unboxing of auction finds, the page turning of beautiful bindings, the story behind old boxes of ephemera. 

And I will do so as often as I'm able (hopefully at least once or twice a week) - my book life has become incredibly busy recently, and I am hoping to move to a bigger storage unit (no, it's not hoarding!!). But whenever, I see something wonderful, unusual or fun I'll share it with you.

Hope to see you over here, booklovers - you know who you are!