Amanda grew up in a village called Waverton, near the roman city of Chester in England.
Her Welsh parents and grandparents would write children’s stories and tell them to Amanda and her sisters at bedtime.
Her inspiration to write children’s stories probably came from them… and another very important person in her life … Gravy Badger.
He was her brown teddy bear and was her best friend in the whole wide world. They went everywhere together, of course, and had amazing adventures… or should I say misadventures!
At the age of 14 Amanda, Gravy Badger, her two sisters and her parents moved to Llanwnog in Mid-Wales, where Amanda’s writing of poems and stories continued.
She attended Llanidloes secondary school and life was filled with sport and music, singing in various choirs and attending the local and national welsh festivals called Eisteddfodau.
After Sixth Form, Amanda studied for a Business Education teaching degree and secured a teaching post as Head of Department at Aylsham High School near Norwich, where she pursued her hockey and netball.
She then moved to Yorkshire to get married and taught at Tadcaster Grammar School for 30 years. Amanda has 3 wonderful children who loved listening to the bedtime stories passed down from the generations.
Amanda then started writing about Gravy Badger and the true stories from her childhood with him in tow!
Gravy Badger and the Magic Stairs is the first children’s book that she has written, with spectacular illustrations from a former student of Tadcaster Grammar School and York University – Daniel Saywell. She hopes that all children and parents will enjoy it!
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