Mum was Swiss and Dad English and they met on a ship travelling to New Zealand so it's not surprising that my destiny was to become a travel writer. My writing began during World War Two when, aged ten, I started a series of stories about a gnome and a flying dragon who encountered twins and took them on amazing overseas adventures, first having to overcome the hazards of barrage balloons, falling bombs and rising shells. Being a hoarder I still have them, complete with illustrations. Apart from a few lapses, I have barely stopped writing since, which makes it seventy-five years-plus of scribbling. My main interest has been in how ordinary people cope with extraordinary circumstances, hence a trilogy on the effects of war on the children and grand children of participants. I also have a firm belief that it is better to be part of the solution than part of the problem. And I have contributed to such themes as addiction. My future projects will be involved with promoting some understanding of mild dementia and the continued presence of the real person behind it. It's a subject we are all going to need to get used to in the coming years. As sole carer for my husband and best mate who suffered from it, I am still coming to terms with his collapse and death early in 2013, but it's my plan to proceed into the future in his company. I'm also putting his memoirs on the Web - he had a hugely interesting life. You can find them at www.georgespenceley4.wordpress.com Mine can be found at www.sylvienickelsbooks.com Currently I am editing the trilogy I wrote a few years ago on the effects of war on successive generations in order to bring them out in one volume. The next project is to write a fourth book to round off the trilogy, with some or the main characters. It will be set in the kind of residential home for retired people in which I am currently living.