Pippa McCathie

About: Pippa wrote her first novel in a set of exercise books at the age of fifteen. Her parents, an Anglican vicar and an artist, were not as impressed with this as her school friends, so they suggested she study for a secretarial course and save the writing for later in life. Reluctantly, she did.

Pippa was brought up in Mauritius, moved to Guernsey in 1963, then on to London, Durban, Swansea and back to Guernsey, where she has lived since 1984 with her husband, a singing engineer; they have three sons.

Since 2002, no longer able to resist sharing the thrill of writing with others, she has taught creative writing through the Guernsey Adult Education service and also teaches a private class from home. She works part-time for Citizens Advice and is a founder member of Liberate, a charity that supports the LGBTQ community in the Channel Islands. She also runs the English Literary section of Guernsey’s annual Eisteddfod.

She has had many poems and short stories published in magazines and anthologies. Her published books include a series of crime novels based in South Wales, the first titled MURDER IN THE VALLEYS, and two romances.

In her spare time she plays spider solitaire, reads, does jigsaws, looks after a cowardly cat and tries to avoid gardening and housework.

The Identity Games, a meeting with Pippa McCathie