About Elise

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Elise in Madeira

Elise Darcy on holiday in the Island of Madeira

I grew up in North London in the 1970’s, the daughter of two baby boomer school teachers. I enjoyed the experience of growing up in London. With so much to see and do I often felt the city was my playground. I have fond childhood memories of free time spent exploring the city’s museums and public parks.

My love of stories was encouraged from an early age. Weekend trips to Regent’s Park always culminated in a visit to Foyles, the famous bookshop in the Charing Cross Road, my parents’ regular haunt. As a child I was entertained for hours in what to me was an Aladdin’s Cave of winding staircases and little nooks and crannies where I would eventually be found with my head in a book.

After reading economics at university, I  embarked on a graduate training programme leading to a career as a business analyst. I worked in this capacity for a number of years until the economic downturn swept me up in its tsunami and deposited me in the redundancy wasteland. On the upside, it was an opportunity to start over and follow a dream. I am sure I’m not alone when I say that I often fantasized about doing something different with my life. This was my chance to do just that. And it wasn’t difficult to work out what that ‘something’ would be.

The truth is, I have always been a closet writer. Other people spend their free time gardening or baking, learning a language, or going to the gym. I write fiction. I have done so for many years. In fact, I can’t remember a time in my adult life when I didn’t have a book on the go; writers among you will know the urge to write is compelling.

I subsequently moved out of London to a small market town in Suffolk, bought an apartment, and settled down with my family, my laptop, and the neighbourhood moggies who take every opportunity to sneak into the apartment unnoticed and find all manner of hiding places while I’m busy writing.

ELISE DARCY